Portraits of six real-life vigilantes

Marianne Bachmeier

Marianne Bachmeier's story is one of a mother's relentless pursuit of justice after an unspeakable tragedy. In May 1980, the lifeless body of her seven-year-old daughter, Anna, was discovered in a cardboard box along the bank of a local canal. The horror of the crime shook the community to its core, and the prime suspect swiftly emerged: Klaus Grabowski, a 35-year-old neighbor with a criminal history of child molestation.

Grabowski confessed to the murder of the young girl but denied any sexual misconduct, instead claiming that Anna had attempted to extort money from him by threatening to falsely accuse him.

As the case went to trial at the Lübeck District Court in 1981, Grabowski's defense shocked the court. They claimed that Grabowski's hormonal imbalance, caused by his voluntary castration due to prior offenses, was the trigger for his acts.

Grabowski’s defense fueled the anguish and rage that had gripped Marianne's heart. On the third day of the proceedings, she smuggled a .22-caliber Beretta into the courtroom and shot Grabowski. In 1983, the legal system found “the Revenge Mother” guilty of premeditated manslaughter, imposing a six-year prison sentence.

Los Pepes

Pablo Escobar, the notorious Colombian drug lord, ran a colossal cocaine empire that cast a dark shadow over the nation, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives and immeasurable suffering. His reign of terror seemed unassailable, fortified by corrupt authority figures he held in his sway.

However, when Escobar had two members of a rival cartel murdered, it sparked a chain of events that would ultimately lead to his downfall. Fidel Castano, the other cartel’s boss, helped form Los Pepes, which is short for “Perseguidos por Pablos Escobar”, translating to “People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar”.

Los Pepes ruthlessly attacked anyone associated with Escobar, such as friends, relatives, public supporters, and officials within Escobar's circle. In their campaign, they inflicted injuries and death upon several civilians. In 1993, Colombian police and military forces made their way to Escobar's hideout and eventually shot and killed him while he was on the run.

While the extent of Los Pepes' direct involvement in Escobar's demise remains a subject of controversy and speculation, their unyielding actions undeniably set the stage for the end of a dark chapter in Colombia's history.

Citizens of Skidmore, Missouri

Ken McElroy's reign of terror gripped the residents of Skidmore, Missouri. For years, the police suspected him of many crimes, but the wheels of justice seemed to turn agonizingly slow, if at all. It changed in 1973, when Trena McCloud, a young 14-year-old girl, gave birth to McElroy's child. She initially moved in with him, but later she fled to her mother's. In an act of retribution, McElroy shot the family dog and set their house ablaze.

The authorities charged McElroy with assault, arson, and rape, but dropped the charges after Trena agreed to marry him. McElroy had threatened to burn down her mother's new house, just as he had the old one.

In 1980, McElroy shot the town's elderly grocer in the neck. Despite being convicted of attempted murder, he secured his release on bail, further fueling the frustration and fear of the Skidmore community. The mounting anger and desperation of the town culminated in a crucial gathering in July 1981, in which the residents discussed Ken McElroy. Though it’s unclear what they said, it's clear they determined McElroy must go.

After he left a local tavern, he was shot several times and killed in his pickup truck. Even though Trena was present in the truck, and nearly 46 individuals bore witness to the event, no one called for an ambulance. Trena identified one shooter, but none of the other observers admitted to seeing anything.

Adding to the mystique of the incident, the sheriff, who had previously cautioned about any vigilante acts, had left town shortly before McElroy's murder. To this day, authorities have charged no one in connection with the man's death.

Bernhard Goetz

The events that transpired in a New York City subway train on a fateful December day in 1984 would leave an indelible mark on the city and ignite a fierce debate surrounding vigilantism and self-defense. On that day, four young African American men accosted 37-year-old Bernhard Hugo Goetz Jr. In response, Goetz shot them with a.38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver. Though the men survived, the violent encounter left Darrell Cabey paraplegic and brain-damaged.

After several days on the run, Goetz turned himself in to the Concord, New Hampshire Police headquarters. In his statement, he expressed his contempt for the legal system, his fear of being beaten and robbed, and his desire to murder his victims. Goetz asserted that the shooting was an act of self-defense, driven by the authorities' failure to deliver justice when he had been robbed three years prior.

The court acquitted “The Subway Vigilante” of all attempted murder and assault charges. Instead, the court sentenced him to eight months in jail for the possession of an unlicensed gun. In 1996, a jury awarded Cabey $43 million in a civil suit. Goetz filed for bankruptcy.

Michael Mullen

In 2005, Michael Mullen, a 35-year-old man, killed two registered sex offenders, Hank Eisses and Victor Vazquez. The victims lived with another registered sex offender, James Russell, at a house in Bellingham, Washington. When Russel got back from work, he discovered the bodies. Mullen had shot them execution-style.

To gain access to their apartment, Mullen impersonated an FBI agent and claimed to investigate threats against registered sex offenders. At first, Mullen sent letters to the police and media, in which he claimed to plan to kill more sex offenders who had abused children. However, he soon turned himself in.

A dark history motivated Mullen's actions: he experienced sexual abuse from a neighbor during his elementary school days, resulting in deep emotional wounds. Mullen also claimed outrage over the recent case of Joseph Edward Duncan III. had motivated his actions. Duncan had murdered an Idaho family and kidnapped the two youngest children as sex slaves.

San Jose Mob

In November 1933, Thomas Harold Thurmond and John M. Holmes abducted and killed Brooke Hart, the 22-year-old scion of a prominent department store owner in San Jose, California. Soon, the police arrested them and held them at the Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose.

However, after word had spread that Thurmond and Holmes would submit a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, an enraged mob congregated outside the jail. During the day, rumors of a lynching in St. James Park circulated, and when darkness fell, thousands had assembled in the area.

In this tense atmosphere, Governor James Rolph further fanned the flames when he announced he would not deploy the National Guard and even promised a pardon to anyone involved in an act of lynching. By midnight, the mob overwhelmed police, and dragged Thurmond and Holmes out of their cells, took them to the park, and hanged them as advertised. One Los Angeles radio station even broadcasted the lynching live.

Buy Wicked Justice

Wicked Justice is the second book in "The Empath Series", a paranormal suspense series about a reclusive empath rejoining the world and the people he left behind.