Fritz Honka, the "Golden Glove" Killer
This case file describes a real crime. Details are presented factually and without graphic description, for informational purposes.
Fritz Honka murdered four women, most of whom he met at a Hamburg bar called the Golden Glove, in his apartment in the St. Pauli district between 1970 and 1975. He dismembered the remains and concealed them within his apartment.
Discovery
A fire broke out in Honka's building in 1975, and firefighters discovered concealed human remains while investigating the damage, quickly leading to his arrest.
Trial and sentence
Honka confessed and was convicted in 1976, receiving a 15-year sentence — a relatively short term reflecting diminished-responsibility findings related to his alcoholism at the time.
Later life
Honka was released in 1993 after serving his sentence and died in 1998. The case remains a well-known one in German criminal history and was the subject of a 2019 film.