Cold case · 1976
File:Ehrengrab auf dem Friedhof Hörnli, Riehen, Basel-Stadt .jpgCredit: EinDaoCC BY-SA 4.0SourceThe short answer
Five members of the Siegrist and Westhäuser families were shot dead in a weekend house near Seewen, Switzerland, on 5 June 1976. Despite an extensive investigation, no one was ever charged, and the case became time-barred in 2006.
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Suggest coverage for Seewen murder caseOn 5 June 1976, five people were shot and killed at a weekend house named "Waldeggli," located on a meadow at the forest edge near Seewen, in the canton of Solothurn, Switzerland. The victims were Elsa Clara Siegrist-Säckinger (62), her husband Eugen Siegrist-Säckinger (63), Eugen's sister Anna Westhäuser-Siegrist (80), and Anna's two sons, Emanuel Westhäuser (52) and Max Westhäuser (49). A Winchester rifle was used, and 13 rounds were fired in total.
The crime was discovered on 6 June 1976, by the daughter of two of the victims. Police found four bodies inside the house, with a fifth wrapped in a carpet on the terrace. Investigators have suspected that only Elsa and Eugen Siegrist-Säckinger were the intended targets, and that the perpetrator killed the other three victims after being surprised by their presence.
The criminal investigation department pursued many leads, including a systematic search for owners of Winchester rifles, but the case went unsolved for two decades. In autumn 1996, a Winchester rifle — an Italian-made imitation with a short barrel — was found hidden inside the kitchen wall of a house belonging to a woman named Doser. The weapon was identified as the one used in the killings and was traced to Carl Doser, described as a loner living in Basel who had legally purchased the rifle in 1973. Doser had previously been interviewed by police and had falsely claimed he had sold the gun at a flea market. He was not charged, as investigators could not establish a clear motive or any documented connection between him and the victims.
A second person, Adolf "Johnny" Siegrist, a relative of the murdered couple, was also examined as a possible suspect after an acquaintance, Hans Blaser, alleged that Johnny had asked him for a machine pistol and suggested Doser may have assisted him. Ammunition matching what could have been used in the crime was reportedly purchased three weeks beforehand at a Basel shop by a customer asking about compatibility with an Italian Winchester rifle, and who said he was buying it for someone else. Johnny was described as occasionally irascible, and shot-through styrofoam heads were found in his flat. Investigators speculated about a possible motive tied to old grievances, including belittling nicknames the victims had allegedly used for him. Johnny was arrested temporarily but was never charged, and he died in the mid-1980s.
The 30-year statute of limitations on the case expired in 2006, and the killings remain formally unsolved.
Carl Doser legally purchases an Italian-made Winchester imitation rifle from Hofmann & Reinhart Waffen AG.
Five people are shot and killed at the 'Waldeggli' weekend house near Seewen, Solothurn.
The crime is discovered by the daughter of two of the victims; police find four bodies inside the house and a fifth on the terrace.
A Winchester rifle, later identified as the murder weapon, is found hidden in the kitchen wall of a house belonging to a woman named Doser.
The 30-year statute of limitations on the case expires with no one charged.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Killed at age 80; sister of Eugen Siegrist.[3]
Killed at age 62 in the 5 June 1976 shooting.[3]
Killed at age 52; son of Anna Westhäuser-Siegrist.[3]
Killed at age 63; husband of Elsa Siegrist-Säckinger.[3]
Killed at age 49; son of Anna Westhäuser-Siegrist.[3]
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