The Crazy Story Of Hans Schmidt, The Killer Priest

Despite his obvious mental health issues and problematic behavior, Hans Schmidt was ordained a Catholic priest in 1906 and was assigned to the small village of Burgel in Germany. This did not go well. As historian Mark Gado notes, Schmidt seemed disinterested in his parishioners and often skipped services altogether, which upset the community.

Worse, as noted by The New York Daily News, Schmidt didn't stick to the Catholic script. As a village priest, he would often alter the mass to suit his own ideas, changing the rituals and the words according to his own ideas. This upset the villagers even more. As Gado writes, Schmidt's career was over just a few years after his ordination due to his eccentric approach to the mass, rumors of his many love affairs, and a habit of extorting money from elderly parishioners in exchange for promises of salvation.

Realizing that he was unlikely to receive any further assignments in Germany, Schmidt traveled to America in 1909 using money from his father, where he repeated all the behaviors that had ruined him in Germany — bizarre variations on the mass, love affairs, and petty theft. He was once again moved from parish to parish until finally landing in New York, where he would commit his most horrifying and sensational crime.

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