Vigilante justice: Meet the ”Revenge mom”

By all accounts, Anna was a bright, open-hearted little girl, full of curiosity and energy. She lived with her mother in Lübeck, where Marianne worked hard to make ends meet by running a small pub. Life was far from easy, but the two shared a deep bond. That bond was brutally severed on May 5, 1980, when Anna disappeared after a minor argument at home. She had decided to skip school and head to a friend’s house but never made it. On her way, she was lured and abducted by 35-year-old Klaus Grabowski, a convicted sex offender who had previously molested two young girls.

Grabowski, who lived nearby, had a history of violence and manipulation. While serving a sentence for his past crimes, he had voluntarily undergone chemical castration. But in an attempt to resume a “normal” life, he later received hormone therapy to reverse the effects. At the time of Anna’s murder, he was living with his fiancée and had returned to the community with little fanfare, despite his history. He held Anna captive in his apartment for several hours, during which time he abused and ultimately strangled her to death.