In 1922, a little farm in the woods of Bavaria became the site of what would become Germany’s most famous unsolved murder, when six people were brutally killed with a pick axe. What led up to it and followed is nothing short of bizarre.
AI Summary
# Stuff You Should Know - Hinterkifeck: The Unsolved 1922 Bavarian Farm Murders
This episode dives deep into one of history's creepiest unsolved mysteries: the brutal 1922 murders of the Gruber family on their isolated farm in Bavaria. The hosts investigate the bizarre circumstances surrounding the deaths—including mysterious footprints in the snow, strange noises that drove the maid away, and eerie signs that someone stayed on the property for days after the murders, tending to the animals and sleeping in the beds. With suspicious neighbors, weak alibis, and plenty of baffling evidence that points in multiple directions, this case remains a haunting puzzle that has captivated investigators for over a century.
Movies Discussed
30 Rock
"after we talked a little bit about 30 Rock on our sitcoms episode, and Emily went out of town for a week, and I barreled through season one of 30 Rock — Josh mentions binge-watching 30 Rock and references the 'rural juror' joke from the show."
— Josh
44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out
"there's a movie called 44 Minutes that was made for TV on FX, and it's terrible — An FX TV movie about the North Hollywood shootout that Josh criticizes."
— Josh
AfterMASH
"What is this Aftermash? Right — Mentioned as a spinoff in the discussion of TV spinoffs."
— Josh
Airplane!
"our whole conception of a mad bomber hijacking a flight comes from D.B. Cooper and Sonny Bono's character in Airplane 2 — Referenced as a source of the cultural conception of bomber hijackings, mentioning Sonny Bono's character."
— Chuck
American Gods
"In American gods, one of the characters is a Slavic god named Zernborg. Every time the benders killed somebody, he gained strength from their sacrifice — Josh mentions Neil Gaiman's American Gods featuring a character inspired by the Bender murders."
— Josh
American Poltergeist
"I don't know if he plans to, like, put up, like, a Lizzie Borden house or something. — Josh speculates about potential tourist attractions related to the Bender property, comparing it to the Lizzie Borden House."
— Josh
Barry
"that's where Hank, the Chechen gangster in the HBO show Barry is from — Used as a reference point to explain the North Hollywood location, where the character NoHo Hank is from."
— Chuck
Black Sunday
"I have a dream about a movie one day that would be called Black Sunday. And there's going to be snipers at that airport. — Humorously suggesting D.B. Cooper may have seen this movie about airport snipers before planning his hijacking."
— Josh
Blade Runner
"Do you know I didn't see Blade Runner until I was 40? That's not true. Yes, it is. The original. — Chuck revealed he didn't watch Blade Runner until he was 40 years old, discussing the original film."
— Chuck
Buster
"if you had ever seen the movie Buster with Phil Collins? Oh, is that who it's about? — Josh mentions this film about Buster Edwards, one of the Great Train Robbers, starring Phil Collins."
— Josh
Charles in Charge
"I think you're talking about Charles in charge. — Referenced when discussing shows with an ensemble cast and daughters."
— Chuck
Dazed and Confused
"It was no dazed and confused, huh? Oh, just different movies. Okay. — Josh compared Slacker unfavorably to Dazed and Confused as different films."
— Josh
Dirty Harry
"the school bus kidnapping and the movie Dirty Harry. And he said, hey, this would make a great movie, too — Fred Woods was inspired by a kidnapping plot in Dirty Harry and thought the real Chowchilla kidnapping would make a good film."
— Josh
Family Guy
"I stole that joke from Family Guy anyway — Josh admits he stole a joke about LOL meaning 'lots of love' from Family Guy."
— Josh
Fight Club
"Although lie is used in the making of soap, isn't it? I remember my fight club. — Chuck references Fight Club when discussing how lye is used in soap production, making a joke about someone injecting soap into soap."
— Chuck
Happy Days
"What about Laverne and Shirley? A spinoff from Happy Days, right? — Referenced as the parent show that spawned Laverne & Shirley spinoff."
— Josh
Heat
"they seem to have been inspired by that movie — Phillips was enamored of the movie Heat, and the 1997 shootout resembled the famous shootout scene from the film."
— Josh
In Broad Daylight
"There was a 1991 TV movie starring Brian Denehy and Marsha Gay Hardin — Josh mentions a TV movie adaptation of the Ken McElroy murder case that he watched."
— Josh
Inglourious Basterds
"There was a movie made in 2016 called Bender that does not look great. Did you see the trailer? — Josh discusses a 2016 film about the Bender family that received poor reviews for its acting and historical drama focus."
— Josh
Jaws
"It's like jaws or something up in there. Right. Amity Island, Fourth of July. — Referenced to describe how crowded the beach was on July 4th weekend."
— Josh
Krull
"It was like, Krull. That's on. I'll watch Krull. — Mentioned as an example of movies Josh would watch as a child when cable HBO became available in his neighborhood."
— Josh
Laverne & Shirley
"What about Laverne and Shirley? A spinoff from Happy Days, right? That's right, Chuck. — Mentioned as an example of a successful TV spinoff."
— Josh
Law & Order
"He's from Law & Order. And like some other stuff. You got to get into Law & Order to see how much you're missing out on. — Josh mentioned that actor Linus Roach was from the TV show Law & Order."
— Josh
Mork & Mindy
"And Morton Mindy spun off, too. — Mentioned as another spinoff from Happy Days."
— Chuck
No One Saw a Thing
"There was a documentary series actually called No One Saw a Thing, of which I watched the first episode. — Chuck references a 2019 documentary series about the Ken McElroy case that he partially watched."
— Chuck
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Crush - The Movie
"I was kind of in the middle. I told him young Chuck, like 22-year-old college Chuck would have probably liked it a lot more. — Chuck referenced his appearance on the Movie Crush podcast where he discussed Mandy with Noel."
— Chuck
Party Down
"Steve Gutenberg was in one of the very best episodes of one of my favorite TV shows, Party Down. — Chuck mentions a notable episode of Party Down where Steve Gutenberg appeared and was very funny."
— Chuck
Reversal of Fortune
"I didn't make it to the end of reversal of fortune, so I honestly didn't know what happened to Klaus. — Josh mentioned he didn't finish watching Reversal of Fortune about Klaus von Bulow."
— Josh
Saving Private Ryan
"Did you ever see Mandy? Yes, it was terrible. I don't care what anybody else says. — Chuck and Josh discussed Nicolas Cage's film Mandy, with Chuck expressing his dislike for it despite others' praise."
— Chuck
Scarface
"was sort of enamored of like Scarface and ultimately the movie Heat — Phillips was inspired by the movie Scarface as well as Heat in his criminal lifestyle."
— Josh
Sexy Beast
"like, sexy beast, like, Ray Winstone on the Spanish River era. — Chuck compares the lifestyle of train robbers in Spain to the film Sexy Beast starring Ray Winstone."
— Chuck
Slacker
"I was thinking Slacker, and that's funny. Two different movies. But do you remember they're driving through in the police car with the loudspeaker talking about their show? — Josh referenced a similar police car loudspeaker scene that could be from Slacker."
— Josh
Sleepless in Seattle
"That's all coming for a full circle. Didn't even see that coming. He tried to get Nora Ephron sleepless in Seattle — Referenced when discussing Kenny Christensen's brother attempting to get screenwriter Nora Ephron to write about D.B. Cooper."
— Josh
The Beverly Hillbillies
"Did you watch the Beverly Hillbillies? I did. Like, a lot? Yeah, yeah, I watched it a lot. — Josh references the show when comparing John Bender Jr. to Jethro Clampett's character, particularly the phase when Jethro became a movie producer."
— Josh
The Blues Brothers
"Reenacting that scene from the Blues Brothers, where they're driving. I was thinking Slacker, and that's funny. — Chuck referenced the police car loudspeaker scene from The Blues Brothers when describing Chicago police warnings."
— Chuck
The Cleveland Show
"What is it? The Cleveland Show. Oh, man. I never watched that. Was it good? — Discussed as a TV spinoff in a conversation about spinoff shows."
— Chuck
The First 48
"Anybody who's ever seen that show knows, like... Like those are the most critical moments. — Referenced to illustrate the importance of the first 48 hours in missing person cases."
— Josh
The Flintstones
"Everything I learned from the Flintstones points to this guy being suspicious. — Josh jokingly references The Flintstones when discussing how criminals often return to crime scenes, a TV trope."
— Josh
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"Man, that was such a good show. — Referenced in discussion about Ted Knight's TV career and potential spinoffs."
— Josh
The Metamorphosis Project
"B.T. Blade Runner. Oh, really? Yeah. Okay, yeah. Some of the best movies. — Josh listed E.T. as one of the best movies from 1982, though he abbreviated it as 'B.T.'"
— Josh
The New Hollywood Squares
"Jim J. Bullock, man. What was he? Hollywood Squares? — Mentioned as a show Jim J. Bullock appeared on."
— Josh
The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper
"Has anyone ever seen the pursuit of D.B. Cooper? No, that's right. That's right, everybody. God bless you, Seattle. — A critically panned 1981 film about D.B. Cooper with Treat Williams and Robert Duvall, which Josh strongly encourages watching the first minutes of."
— Josh
The Ropers
"What is this? The Roper's? Oh well sure — Mentioned as a spinoff show in the conversation about TV spinoffs."
— Chuck
The Shining
"Little Danny was so smart, he doubled back in his footprints. Right. And it worked. — Josh compares the mysterious footprints at Hinterkafeck to a scene from The Shining where the character uses this technique."
— Josh
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
"Like the Taking of Pelham, one, two, three? Yes, exactly. That was a good movie. — Chuck references this movie as a similar train heist film when discussing movies about the Great Train Robbery."
— Chuck
The War of the Roses
"I think that was in a movie once... the War of the Roses, where Michael Douglas goes to put his arm around Kathleen Turner. — Josh references a deathbed scene from this movie about a married couple in a dying moment."
— Josh
Three's Company
"The Ropers — The Ropers was a spinoff of Three's Company."
— Chuck
Too Close for Comfort
"What is this? Too Close for Comfort? Was that a spinoff? — Discussed at length as a possible spinoff show they enjoy."
— Josh
Ugly Betty
"Might know us as Hilda and Justin from Ugly Betty. — Referenced in an advertisement for the Viva Betty podcast where actors discuss their experience on Ugly Betty."
Unsolved Mysteries
"There have been countless TV reenactments and dramatizations. Unsolved mysteries, am I right? — Referenced as one of many TV reenactments and dramatizations of the D.B. Cooper case."
— Josh
Vanished Without a Trace
"you can go watch that movie from Lifetime in 1993 called They've Taken Our Children if you want to see Carl Malden in his underwear — A Lifetime movie adaptation of the Chowchilla kidnapping event featuring Carl Malden as Ed Ray."
— Josh
WarGames
"War games, great movie. — Mentioned alongside Krull as an example of movies Josh watched in childhood."
— Chuck
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