Youth football coach behind tragic murder of Swiss family
A small town in Switzerland has been left in a state of shock after learning that the cold-blooded killer of four people in December was a long-time local youth soccer coach.
The 33-year-old man, identified as Thomas N, stands accused of murdering 48-year-old Carla Schauer, her two teenage sons, aged 13 and 19, and the elder son’s girlfriend, aged 21, in the municipality of Rupperswil in the district of Lenzburg in the canton of Aargau on December 21.
He was arrested on Thursday when he made “comprehensive confession,” the Associated Press reported on Sunday.
On the day of the tragic incident, the murderer secretly entered the victims’ house in the town, located around 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Zurich. He then forced the mother to tie up and gag three other victims before kidnapping her in order to withdraw about 11,000 Swiss Francs ($11,300) from her bank account.
Upon their return to the house, he tied her up as well and raped the younger son and then killed all four by slitting their throats before torching the house.
Police launched a thorough investigation in the wake of the horrific event and even offered a financial reward for those who could provide clues to find the perpetrator.
According to Prosecutor Barbara Loppacher, the suspect is an unmarried local resident with no previous convictions or connections to the victims, and based on his confessions, police believe that he was the sole murderer in the case. While revealing the grim details of the incident on Friday, Loppacher said financial and sexual motives were his most likely incentives.
In an interview with the daily Tages-Anzeiger on Saturday, Roland Wenger, a spokesman for the FC Sarmenstorf soccer club where the suspect was a coach, said that “nobody in the club would have thought Thomas N. would be capable of this, he was always decent.”
After his apprehension, police managed to match his fingerprints and DNA to the crime scene. Police also discovered cable ties, adhesive tape, a pistol and some prepared handcuffs made from rope, suggesting similar planned future crimes.
Town mayor Rudolf Hediger said he was relieved at the arrest but there also was “a certain amount of shame and dismay that it was really a member of our village community.”
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