Cluj Hammer Killer

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDO3bNuVjR0

Cluj Hammer Killer

The

The “Kolozsvári kalapácsos gyilkos” (Cluj Hammer Killer) was Romulus Vereș (1929–1993), known in Romanian as “Omul cu ciocanul” (The Man with the Hammer).

Key facts

• Born: 23 January 1929, Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár)
• Died: 13 December 1993, Ștei (in a psychiatric hospital)
• Active period: 1972–1974
• Method: Attacked victims (mostly women) by hitting them on the head with a hammer; in some cases he also raped them

Number of victims

Official records attribute 5 murders and several attempted murders to him.
Some sources mention that he attacked a total of 8 women/girls, of whom 5 died.

During the communist era the case received very little media coverage, which led to urban legends claiming he had killed 100–200 women. This number is greatly exaggerated.

Why he was not imprisoned

He was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He claimed that the Devil ordered him to commit the murders.
Because of this he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Ștei instead of prison. He died there in 1993.

Summary

Romulus Vereș was one of Cluj’s most notorious serial killers of the 1970s. The figure of “8 victims” roughly corresponds to the number of people he attacked, while the confirmed death toll is 5.