Austrian homicide; the killer of four people. A white male with thick, solid features, he was an illegitimate child. His dad was a soldier, an amputee and an alcoholic. Kniesek had a brutal relationship with his mother. At age 14 he had an S-M relationship with an older woman. On 6/06/1962, he knife-slashed his mother ten times, for which he was given a four year sentence. He married a prostitute ten years his senior on 4/04/1972.
On 8/13/1972, four months after his marriage, Kniesek shot and killed a 73-year old woman without motive He was given a seven-and-a-half year sentence.
In January 1980, one month before his release from prison was scheduled, he was given a three-day pass to search for employment. He secretly desired to commit another murder. He went first to Vienna where he bought a gun, but felt thwarted in the big city environment and later could not recall where he spent his night. On 1/16/1980, he took the train to St. Polten and then hired a taxi. He told the driver that he was a carpet salesman and asked to be taken to a prosperous residential neighborhood. He selected the house of the Altreiter family and late that afternoon, entered through a bathroom window. It was the residence of Gertrude Altreiter, 56, and her two children, Walter, age 27, a muscular dystrophy victim in a wheelchair and Ingrid, 25, a student. Confronting his victims, to intimidate them, Kniesek killed their Angora cat. They pleaded for their lives, offering Kniesek money and jewelry. Gertrude wrote a check for 20,000 shillings, (which Kniesek later cashed.) Ingrid offered her sexual compliance to save them from death, but their killer was only interested in his gruesome intent of torture and murder. He killed Walter in front of his mother and sister and then Gertrude, and finally, slowly tortured Ingrid to death. The entire episode took place leisurely, from 6:00 PM to midnight. Kniesek slept that night in the house with the corpses.
The next morning, Kniesek used the wheelchair to transport the nude bodies to the garage, piling them into the trunk of the car. He drove to Karlstetten, where he ate a hearty breakfast. The son of the restaurateur thought it peculiar that he ate with his gloves on and reported it to the police. By the time they arrived, Kniesek was gone.
In Vienna, he met with a former prison mate and cashed Gertrude’s large check. He went shopping for a new wardrobe for 4,000 shillings. Driving the car and its grisly passengers to Salzburg, he parked near the railway station. While he visited his wife, the police recognized the license plate of the car and when Kniesek came out, arrested him with no resistance. He confessed with no show of emotion and was transferred to the Vienna psychiatric clinic. He was given a life sentence on 7/04/1980.
His mom said that he was an adored darling of the entire family, the third and youngest son. He was talented and well mannered, however his mom said he was fearful, stoic and secretly brutal. At 13 his behavior became abnormal; he fled his boarding school and was given psychiatric care. Rather than return to school, he attempted suicide. Later, Kniesek told of his perverted relationship when he was a little more than 14 with a masochist. At her request, he would beat her, usually with a horse whip, and he was her sexual pawn. He soon formed a desire and a fantasy of torturing other women. He was 15 1/2 when he made his attack upon his mother.