Overview

Marcel Hesse is a 19-year-old resident of Herne, Germany who rose to international notoriety for killing his nine-year-old neighbor and sharing the footage and photographs of his crime on various message boards in March 2017. After three days of a nationwide manhunt operation, Hesse was captured and arrested by the police on March 9th.

Background

On March 6th, 2017, Marcel Hesse, a 19-year-old resident of Herne, Germany, approached his neighbor's house and asked the youngest of the three brothers, Jayden, if he would help him put up a ladder. According to the police investigation, Hesse lured the nine-year-old boy back to his home and killed him by repeatedly stabbing him with a knife 58 times, all the while filming his senseless act of murder on camera. Within the hour of committing murder, Hesse posted the video and several pictures of himself posing beside the lifeless body of his victim to an anonymous Darknet message board.

Developments

Police Investigation

That evening, the local authorities in Herne launched an investigation in search of Jayden and a possible murder suspect after the boy's mother reported her son as missing, as well as an anonymous tip from someone who saw Hesse's post on the message board. By March 7th, the investigation had snowballed into a nationwide manhunt when Jayden's body was found in the basement of Hesse's house, with the main suspect nowhere to be found. In the following 72 hours, the German police used helicopters and K-9 dogs in search of Hesse, while schools and kindergartens in Herne were placed on lockdown.

Hesse's Online Activities

Even after the public announcement of the nationwide manhunt operation, Hesse reportedly continued to boast about his killing and share more photographs from the crime scene on various online chat rooms and WhatsApp, along with a series of disturbing messages alluding to his one or more acts of murder.

Social Media Reaction

As the news of the horrifying murder in the city of Herne spread across Germany's social networking sites and online news outlets, additional photographs and writings allegedly posted by the suspect or his friend on numerous message boards, including 4chan. On March 6th, an anonymous user claiming to be a friend of Hesse spilled the beans on 4chan's /b/ board, along with several links to photographic proof, which was subsequently screen-captured and posted on Reddit's /r/4chan later that same day. On March 8th, an ominous post written in German about an imminent killing spree surfaced on 4chan's /b/ board, which also made the rounds among German users on Twitter. The authenticity of the posts remain unverified (shown below).

Capture

On the evening of March 9th, Hesse walked into a Greek fast food restaurant in Herne and told the owner to call the police, effectively turning himself in. Furthermore, Hesse also alerted the police to a burning apartment nearby the restaurant, where another body of a 22-year-old man was discovered. According to the authorities, Hesse has admitted to both crimes.

Search Interest

External References