Joachim Georg Kroll (17 April 1933 - 1 July 1991) was a German serial killer and cannibal. He was known as the Ruhr Cannibal (Ruhrkannibale), Ruhr Hunter (Ruhrjäger) and the Duisburg Man-Eater (Duisburger Menschenfresser). He was convicted of eight murders but confessed to a total of 13.<br /><br />Early life<br /><br />Born the son of a miner in Hindenburg (Zabrze), Province of Upper Silesia, Kroll was the last among eight children. He was a weak child and used to wet the bed. His education was poor, only reaching Grade 3. (Later psychiatrists found he had an IQ of 76.)<br /><br />After the end of World War II, Kroll's family moved to North Rhine-Westphalia.<br /><br />Crimes<br /><br />He began killing in 1955, after his mother died. Around 1960, Kroll went to Duisburg and found work as a toilet attendant for Mannesmann. Afterwards he worked for Thyssen Industries and went to 24 Friesen street, Laar, a district of Duisburg. At that time he resumed killing people.
