17 Facts About Ludwig Tessnow

The tests conducted by biologist Paul Uhlenhuth upon Ludwig Tessnow's clothing proved to be the first instance in which the forensic analysis of bloodstains was used in the conviction of a criminal.

Police questioning of local residents produced a witness who informed police he had observed a local carpenter named Ludwig Tessnow walking into the village from the direction of the woodland on the morning of the children's disappearance.

Furthermore, this witness claimed Ludwig Tessnow's clothing was heavily stained with dark, reddish-brown blotches.

Ludwig Tessnow protested his innocence, insisting the ample dark stains upon his clothing were wood dye which had spattered onto his clothing in recent carpentry jobs he had performed for locals, and that the eyewitness had observed him walking in the direction of his home from one of these jobs.

Furthermore, although a button found at the crime scene matched the buttons upon his suit, Ludwig Tessnow claimed he had lost the button several weeks prior.

Ludwig Tessnow was eventually released from custody due to a lack of sufficient evidence.

Ludwig Tessnow made no attempt to leave Lechtingen, and was observed wearing this stained clothing on several subsequent occasions.

Ludwig Tessnow's neck had been severed to the spine, with a jagged wound inflicted to his abdomen causing his intestines to protrude.

When questioned as to the source of these stains, Ludwig Tessnow claimed the stains were wood dye which had spattered onto his clothes via his profession as a carpenter.

Ludwig Tessnow's story was not believed, and he was remanded in custody, to await trial before the examining magistrates at Greifswald.

Ludwig Tessnow admitted to having read newspaper reports of this incident but protested his innocence in the killing of the sheep; again insisting the stains upon his clothing and boots were not human or animal blood, but wood dye.

Ludwig Tessnow pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder and a third charge of murderous assault.

Several psychiatric experts testified at the trial; each stating Ludwig Tessnow had murdered the brothers in a state of "degenerate moral responsibility".

Six psychiatrists testified on behalf of the defence to their conclusions that Ludwig Tessnow was insane at the time he committed the murders.

Ludwig Tessnow was convicted of both murders and sentenced to death by beheading, with an additional sentence of two years' imprisonment imposed relating to the charge of murderous assault.

Ludwig Tessnow was sentenced to suffer the loss of all his political rights.

Ludwig Tessnow was allegedly beheaded by guillotine in the courtyard of the Greifswald prison in 1904.