“Hanau Attacker Sought Help from Detective Agency”

Report on Kurtz Investigations Frankfurt and Tobias R. in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The attacker of Hanau met with a private detective in October 2019. He asked him for help because he believed he was being monitored by an intelligence service. The statements Tobias R. made at that time support the image of a mentally ill perpetrator.

Delusional Concept: Thoughts as a Blueprint for American Politics

According to information obtained by the F.A.Z., the Hanau mass murderer Tobias R. contacted Kurtz Detective Agency Frankfurt am Main in June of the previous year, hoping the agency could assist him in uncovering an intelligence service that he imagined as part of a delusional system. According to agency owner Patrick Kurtz, R. had explained on the telephone that in Germany only the Federal Chancellor and the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution knew about the existence of this intelligence service. R. had hoped that the agency, which advertises good connections to security authorities, could arrange a contact for him at the domestic intelligence service in order to clarify the matter. “We naturally declined; it also became clear to us quite quickly that something was not right with the man mentally,” says Kurtz.

 

After several further telephone calls, Holger E., a senior employee of the agency, nevertheless agreed to a meeting scheduled for 24 October 2019 in an inn in Dortmund. “Mr R. made a tidy impression at first glance,” says Holger E. “Grey suit, black shoes, light-coloured shirt, short hair, well-groomed appearance.” During the meeting, R. had read various passages from a document he had brought with him; from these it emerged that R. had been hearing voices since early childhood and that he believed his thoughts were being stolen from his mind and used as a blueprint for the American film industry and the politics of the American president.

“He did not appear violent to me”

Holger E. is certain: “Those were the same passages that now also appear in this 24-page document often referred to as the perpetrator’s manifesto.” R. did not read out to him the xenophobic sections of the manifesto at that time, nor those that contained indications of a planned attack.

 

“He did not appear violent to me and did not mention his firearms licence either,” says Holger E. Almost daily, individuals with mental disorders contact the agency, for example people who believe that their flat is being bugged or that they are being targeted with radiation. A report to the police would only be filed if there were indications of a readiness to commit violence.

Large Number of Mentally Disturbed Callers

Tobias R. differed from many other mentally ill clients in that he appeared above-average intelligent and articulate and seemed capable of managing daily life. “I understood him to mean that he had been employed for some time but was probably no longer working at the time of our conversation,” says Holger E. “However, he did not seem to have financial concerns.” Tobias R. had not mentioned any social contacts except for one friend who appears as a conversational partner at various points in his manifesto.

 

But why was a meeting arranged with Tobias R. at all if the telephone calls had already made it clear that the man did not need a detective but a doctor? “The people who contact us have often already had many unsuccessful attempts at therapy,” says Kurtz. Sometimes it can help them to feel that someone is addressing their problems. Holger E. says he asked Tobias R. at the end of the conversation to compile and send him the central passages of his manifesto; he would then see what he could do for him. He never heard from R. again.

Notes

The original article by Constantin van Lijnden appeared in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (F.A.Z.). The emphasis (bold print) and links on this page may differ from the original.

Our condolences go to the victims and their families.

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