The S-Bahn is a railway system that runs through Berlin, and during the very darkest times of World War II — literally — it was the dumping ground of a serial killer who stalked the city during the blackouts designed to foil Allied bombers.
The first bodies were discovered in late 1940, and the killing continued. Multiple victims were thrown from moving trains, most had fractured skulls, and bore signs of assault. As more victims were identified, BBC Collections says (via Issuu) that Berlin police knew they were dealing with a single killer.
They suspected a railway worker, but finding the killer was a bit like finding a needle in a haystack... of more than 5,000 employees. By the time the last victim was discovered in July of 1941, one name was standing out — Paul Ogorzow. Coworkers regularly called him misogynistic, and half of the killer's eight victims were found within a mile of his home. Ogorzow was ultimately arrested, and after confessing to the murders, he was executed via the guillotine.
In hindsight, it seems like he should have been caught well before his eighth victim, but Ogorzow hunted under the cover of blackouts and used the darkness to escape police pursuit at least once. Also, the possibility of a German serial killer wasn't even on police radar for a long time. Instead, they investigated foreign laborers, Jewish locals, and the possibility of British agents in the area.
