Fugitive killer's haven (Germany)

San Jose Mercury ^ | Dec. 27, 2002 | Dan Reed, Tracy Seipel and Sascha Balasko

[KneelBeforeZod]

MERCURY NEWS INVESTIGATION YIELDS LOCATION, SERIES OF ERRORS

The name on the home in the tourist town of Bad Zwischenahn, Germany, read ``Dr. Dr. G. de Kaplany.'' When a reporter knocked on the door, a man in his 70s, gray but fit, stepped out. Yes, he said. He was Dr. Geza de Kaplany.

This was the San Jose doctor who horrified California 40 years ago when he tortured and murdered his new bride, and then ignited a storm of controversy when he received a hush-hush parole after spending only 12 years in prison. Today, de Kaplany remains a fugitive, still wanted by California authorities for jumping parole.

``I have done one mistake in my life,'' de Kaplany, sweaty and shaky, told the reporter. ``I paid enough for it.''

On Aug. 28, 1962, de Kaplany, told that his wife was cheating on him, punished her by binding her and methodically swabbing her face and body with acid. Hajna de Kaplany lingered in misery for 33 days before dying in a hospital room stripped of mirrors so she couldn't see her reflection.

The district attorney who convicted the anesthesiologist pledged he would never be set free. And yet in 1975 ``in the dark of night,'' as one official puts it, he was not only freed but allowed to leave the country.

Then, in 1979, he skipped parole -- but no one appeared to care enough to track him down and bring him back. For violating parole, he could have been returned to prison. But not anymore.

The Mercury News set out to find de Kaplany this year, the 40th anniversary of the murder. After only a few months' search by phone and databases, he was found living quietly with his second wife on this pleasant street.

The Mercury News also learned that almost two years earlier, the doctor had become a German citizen. And Germany will not allow his extradition. After more than 20 years of negligence and bungling by California prison officials and prosecutors, he was beyond American law.

...long article!

The rest:

[ex-Texan]

The mad doctor is a Roman Catholic I see ..... Suggest that Freepers declare a 'Fatwah' on the doctor and see if there is an Islamic crazy living in German who would be willing to give him the type of death he deserves .... An acid bath.

[pepsionice]

Interesting story...obviously he rebuilt his medical career and no one in Germany ever asked a single question, not even the medical evaluation board who had to grant him a license. My guess is that he paid someone off on the German board and then just slide the rest of the into Germany. What makes this even more interesting...is that a creature (not a human) would use acid in such a fashion. He didn't want to just dump her or slap her around...he actually wanted to destroy as much as possible without killing her. And he very likely kept this second wife of his...the one in Germany...under a tight rope. One can only guess that she never knew the story and is probably just learning about the man she has been married to for over 30 years. How could any woman have enough trust to stay in the same house with this wacko?