Walter Stürm died 25 years ago in prison in Frauenfeld
Published: Thursday, Sep 5th 2024, 09:50
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25 years ago, Walter Stürm took his own life in Frauenfeld remand prison. The career criminal became known as the "escapee king". He spent a large part of his life in prison or on the run.
Walter Stürm was in Thurgau cantonal prison in 1999. He was under investigation for robbery and hostage-taking. On the morning of September 13, he did not react when breakfast was brought to him. He lay dead in his cell.
The 57-year-old suffocated himself with a garbage bag and ended a life characterized by burglaries and outbursts. In the 1980s, he enjoyed a special reputation as a rebel, particularly in left-wing circles.
On the wrong track with fast cars
Walter Stürm was born in 1942. He came from a family of industrialists from Goldach SG. From the age of 20, the trained car body mechanic worked for the justice system. His fascination with fast cars led him down the wrong path for the first time: he financed a Lotus sports car by selling stolen cars.
The man from eastern Switzerland became a professional criminal, committing several hundred crimes - mainly burglaries and robberies. This was in times when stores and company premises were barely secured with alarm systems and video surveillance, and wages were often still kept in cash in the company safe.
He was aware that he was doing something illegal. But it didn't bother him. Stürm forged passports, driving licenses and vehicle registration documents, changed his appearance, changed his identities and went into hiding again and again until he was arrested.
"I'm looking for Easter eggs, Stürm"
Stürm escaped from prisons eight times - or did not return after parole. He was on the run for a total of eight years. His life was made into a movie in 2021. "Stürm: Until we are dead or free" shows how he manages a spectacular prison escape in a stolen guard's uniform.
Walter Stürm attracted particular attention with a note. When he escaped from Regensdorf Prison in April 1981, he left a note in his cell with the now famous remark "I'm looking for Easter eggs, Stürm".
He repeatedly rebelled against the prison conditions with complaints. He was stylized into a symbolic figure by left-wing circles. There were demonstrations against solitary confinement. The psychiatrist Ralf Binswanger, the journalist Laure Wyss and the writer Niklaus Meienberg were among those who campaigned for an easing of Sturm's prison conditions.
Hunger strikes and a strolling yard
Because he was transferred to the security department, Stürm went on hunger strike for the first time on March 11, 1987, which he only broke off after a little over 100 days. He also left his mark on the Inselspital in Bern. Thanks to his perseverance, a walking yard was built for the prisoners in the guard ward.
He later went on hunger strike for 120 days in the cantonal hospital in Geneva to protest against what he claimed was a delay in his trial by the Valais judiciary.
Stürm was last convicted in 1992; the sentence of 12 years imprisonment was reduced to 10.5 years by the Valais cantonal court in 1994.
In March 1993, a TV reporter visited him in solitary confinement in Brig. He continued to rebel against the authorities. And: "In freedom, I would love to renovate old cars," he said, who was locked up 23 hours a day. On October 20, 1998, Stürm was conditionally released after serving two thirds of his sentence. He had returned to the prison after serving all 27 furloughs.
Refused to make any statement
The surprise was great when Stürm was arrested as a suspected bank robber in March 1999 together with Hugo Portmann, who had escaped from the Realta GR prison.
They were suspected of having robbed a bank together in Horn TG. They were also suspected of having broken into the house of a bank manager in Sirnach TG a few days earlier. There they are said to have taken his wife hostage and tried to force the bank manager to open the bank vault. This robbery failed.
Walter Stürm spent six months on remand in Frauenfeld cantonal prison and refused to make any statements until he suffocated himself with the garbage bag that was regularly placed in his cell. His release was refused by the Federal Court because he was a flight risk.
©Keystone/SDA
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