Manfred Adolf Seel 30 October — 26 August , also known as the Hesse Ripper , Jack the Ripper of Schwalbach and Alaska , was a suspected serial killer believed to have committed five murders in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main area of Germany between and , and is currently under investigation for other unresolved deaths. Between and , Seel began his two years of compulsory military service , serving in the Raketenartilleriebatallion 52 at the Steuben kaserne in Giessen.
In , after receiving his abitur , he studied art and social history at the Goethe University Frankfurt but did not graduate. His only child, a daughter, was born in Seel was described by neighbours as a friendly and inconspicuous man who occasionally had angry outbursts. According to eyewitness testimony, he regularly visited local prostitutes in the early s. One prostitute contacted a helpline for local sex workers and reported being abused by Seel, warning other women about his violent behaviour.
Seel died in , one year after he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. A few weeks after his death, Seel's daughter and her partner discovered human remains in a rented garage near his household. The murders attributed to Seel were brutal and exhibited sexual sadism. The victims were killed by "harsh violence in sexually relevant zones". He also probably returned to the crime scenes for sexual gratification.
The victims always had different parts removed. Investigator Frank Hermann said at a press conference: "Sometimes it's a right leg, sometimes a left arm — if you put it together, you could actually make a new body by doing that". The police acknowledge that Seel may have had an accomplice, citing forensic trace evidence and the extreme injury pattern on a corpse which only could have been possible by the interaction of two perpetrators. The State Office of Criminal Investigation is currently appealing to the public for further information about Seel and his victims.
Also, they are looking for any surviving victims, with the help of whom conclusions could be drawn for the perpetrator, his motive or the course of events. Yes, this is definitely the most extraordinary case I've ever worked on. The violence is so despicable and unfathomable, it eclipses everything else I've experienced. The police saw Seel as a misogynist or a misanthrope.
