“Conspiracy theories presented: Wuppertal detective agency confirms contact with Hanau attacker”

The Wuppertaler Rundschau on Kurtz Detective Agency and Tobias Rathjen

Wuppertal. In the racially motivated massacre in Hanau, which left eleven dead and was carried out by the presumably schizophrenic right-wing extremist Tobias R., there is a connection to Wuppertal. The 43-year-old, who also killed his mother and then took his own life, had, according to the Kurtz Detective Agency, already made contact with the firm on 17 June 2019; the company operates an office on the Barmer Werth. This was confirmed by owner Patrick Kurtz on Friday (21 February 2020) to the Wuppertaler Rundschau.

Hanau Attacker Seeks Official Contacts via Kurtz Detective Agency

R.’s apparent aim was to use their help to obtain "contacts right at the top" with authorities and government bodies. He had apparently become aware that the agency worked closely with authorities. R. therefore hoped for direct access to the heads of government agencies, who, he believed, would assist him in combating the secret organisations from his conspiracy theories.

 

These conspiracy theories had been presented by him on social networks. He claimed that a powerful international organisation not only manipulated governments but also citizens on a massive scale without them noticing. He also claimed that his brain had been tapped while he slept. His brilliant ideas had allegedly been marketed as Hollywood blockbusters and he had thus been cheated out of his creations. Together with a friend with whom he exchanged ideas, he had collected many more pieces of evidence for obscure conspiracies — which were not taken seriously. From June until 23 September 2019, he reportedly inundated Kurtz Detective Agency in Wuppertal with telephone calls, but was repeatedly rebuffed there as well. Patrick Kurtz: "We are presented with such theories an incredible number of times, without us recognising any concrete and criminal background in them."

Meeting Between Tobias Rathjen and a Detective in Dortmund

On 24 October 2019, however, a meeting and a personal conversation did take place in Dortmund between R. and detective Holger E. The investigator was interested in how such conspiracy fanatics function and present themselves. In contrast to many others who spoke vaguely of world conspiracies, the Hanau man appeared "intelligent and articulate". According to the investigator, he seemed completely "harmless", although a paranoid background was certainly discernible. At that time there had been no sign of violent or racist fantasies, the detective reported.

 

As planned, the investigator subsequently withdrew from the contact. The ideas were just as delusional as those he had encountered in other channels. No business deal was concluded, nor were any financial terms discussed — even though the later murderer spoke of a regular income and a steady job.

Hanau "Manifesto" Already Existed in October 2019

R. called several more times, and to put an end to it the detective asked him to compile an extract of these conspiracy theories (now known as the "manifesto"), which might possibly be forwarded to the Bundesanwaltschaft. As we now know, the murderer sent these statements directly to the Federal Prosecutor on 9 November.

 

The connection to the Hanau massacre only became clear at Kurtz’s when the "manifesto" could be read online. That was precisely what Tobias R. had presented to the detective, albeit in rudimentary form. They found the match, Kurtz said, and alerted the authorities — who, however, had not yet shown any interest.

Note

The original article by Mikko Schümmelfeder appeared in the Wuppertaler Rundschau. Emphases (bold type) and links on this page may differ from the original.

Our condolences go out to the victims and their families.

Kurtz Investigations Wuppertal

Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 55

D-42103 Wuppertal

Tel.: +49 202 5289 0063

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-wuppertal.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-wuppertal.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-wuppertal