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CRIME

‘Beast of Rupperswil’ was local football coach

A man arrested for murdering four people in December and sexually abusing his youngest victim was caught before he could commit any further crimes, police in the canton of Aargau have said.

Published: 17 May 2016 12:30 CEST
‘Beast of Rupperswil’ was local football coach
The murderer lived in the same village as his victims in the canton of Aargau. File photo: Aargau cantonal government

The village of Rupperswil was left reeling over the long weekend after police revealed on Friday that the man arrested for murdering a family of four last December was a local man and youth football coach.

The 33-year-old Swiss student – dubbed the ‘beast of Rupperswil’ by Swiss media – was arrested last week and admitted the brutal murder of a 48-year-old woman, her two teenage sons and the girlfriend of the elder son shortly before Christmas.

According to police the man, who did not know his victims, staked out the house of the Schauer family on the morning of December 21st, waiting for the woman’s partner to leave the house.

He then entered the house and threatened the family, ordering the mother to tie up her sons and the elder son’s girlfriend before demanding she go to an ATM to withdraw money.

On her return she was also bound and gagged. The man then slit their throats and set the house on fire.

The younger son, aged 13, was sexually abused by the perpetrator before his death, Aargau police said on Friday.

In the following months police led a massive manhunt and even posted a reward of 100,000 francs, but to no avail.

Now, it turns out that the perpetrator was in the village all along.

The 33-year-old was brought up in Rupperswil and lived with his mother only a few hundred metres from the house where the horrific quadruple murder took place, it was widely reported.

Until three years ago he was a football coach for a junior team in the area, and still worked for the club, a fact that led parents to fear he may have abused young players at the club.

But on Monday police told the media there was no evidence that the man had sexually abused anyone at the football club or elsewhere, however investigations are ongoing.

During a search of the man’s home last week, police found cable ties, tape and ropes in a backpack, suggesting that he  may have been planning further attacks.

Speaking to paper Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Dominik Kunz, commander of the Rupperswil fire service that attended the scene of the crime, said one of their biggest fears had been that the murderer could strike again.

“For many of us the last half year was a very emotional time,” he said, adding that they felt great relief that the man had finally been caught.

The public prosecutor has ordered a psychiatric evaluation of the murderer, police said. 

 

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CRIME

‘Your permit is invalid’: Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.

Published: 26 April 2024 11:17 CEST
Updated: 2 May 2024 15:04 CEST
'Your permit is invalid': Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

A number of foreign nationals, especially in the German-speaking part of the country, have received an official-looking letter, purportedly from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) informing them that the Free Movement of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”

Faced with enquiries from concerned recipients, SEM responded that the letter is fake, advising recipients to ignore it and, above all, not to click on the QR code on the top.

“Fake letters from the SEM have been circulating since the beginning of this week,” the immigration authority said on its website as well as on X (formerly Twitter).  

“The letter has no impact on the recipient’s  residence status,” SEM added.

Fake jobs, real threats

However, this is only the latest scam perpetrated in the name of SEM.

There have been others in the past.

For instance, many foreigners have also received emails from addresses swissimmigration@consultant or eu_immigration@consultant, that pretend to be the Swiss immigration authority.

“In most cases, a fictitious job in the hotel industry is offered, with the senders demanding payment of 300 to 1,000 euros for a permit in Switzerland and for health and accident insurance,” SEM reported.

The first clue that this email doesn’t come from  SEM, which is part of Switzerland’s government, is that it is asking for payment in euros. If the scammers were smarter, they’d demand Swiss francs.

“These e-mails do not come from the SEM and should be considered as an attempt at fraud,” the agency said. 

Extortion attempt

And a few years ago, a number of foreigners received emails coming allegedly from SEM, Swiss border control authorities, or even the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol).

They threatened to revoke the victim’s residence permit or even expel them from the country altogether if they didn’t pay a certain sum of money into an anonymous account.

Needless to say, no government authority would ever resort to blackmail or demand payment for such ‘services’.

So a good rule to remember (for foreigners and Swiss alike) is that if threats and pressure are involved, letters / emails / phone calls ( WhatsUp messages are more than likely scams.
 
READ ALSO: The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of 

Don’t respond

SEM as well as police urge everyone contacted by scammers, by whatever means to:

  • Ignore these messages by hanging up the phone and / or deleting emails, moving them to the Spam folder
  • Never give out your credit card number or bank account information to people you don’t know
  • If you did give your card number, contact your credit card company immediately to have the card blocked. Likewise, if you gave out your banking details, get in touch with your bank.
  • In the event of threats of extortion attempts, consider filing a criminal complaint. You can search for police stations in your area on the Police website. 
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