Peter Niers
Peter Niers | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1540 |
| Died | 16 September 1581 |
| Cause of death | Execution |
| Other names | Peter Nirsch, Peter Niersch, Peter Nyers, Peter Nyersch |
| Criminal penalty | Broken on the wheel, then quartered while still alive |
| Details | |
| Victims | 544 (according to confessions extracted under torture) |
Span of crimes | c. 1566 – 1581 |
| Country | The Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire |
Date apprehended | September 1581 |
Peter Niers (c. 1540 – 16 September 1581; also spelled Niersch) was an alleged German serial killer and bandit who was executed on 16 September 1581 in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, some 40 km from Nuremberg. Based on confessions extracted from him and his accomplices under torture, Niers was convicted of 544 murders, including 24 fetuses cut out of pregnant women—allegedly, the fetal remains were to be used in magical rituals and for acts of cannibalism.
Information about Niers is based on contemporary ballads, "true crime" reports and official warrants circulating, as well as the aforementioned confessions. Because the confessions were made under torture, it is unclear how much truth there was in them and how many (if any) people he actually killed.