October 17, 2023 • 21 mins
In the late 16th century, the town of Bedburg, Germany was terrorized by a creature that slaughtered its cattle and stole its women and children, killing them with unspeakable cruelty. The horrified townspeople feared that they were being besieged by a demon, or, equally as bad, a vicious werewolf who lived among them.
SOURCES
The Werewolf in Lore and Legend (Dover Occult); Montague Summers
https://danarehn.com/2022/05/04/werewolf-petter-stump/
https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2022/10/a-german-werewolfs-confessions-horrified-1500s-europe
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-damnable-life-and-death-of-stubbe-peeter-a-werewolf-1590
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/autumn-s-oddities--5307439/support.
SOURCES
The Werewolf in Lore and Legend (Dover Occult); Montague Summers
https://danarehn.com/2022/05/04/werewolf-petter-stump/
https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2022/10/a-german-werewolfs-confessions-horrified-1500s-europe
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-damnable-life-and-death-of-stubbe-peeter-a-werewolf-1590
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/autumn-s-oddities--5307439/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:31):
Dark Cast Network. Welcome to thedark Side of podcasting. Hey, Hey,
welcome back to Autumn Zodities. I'mAutumn. This is a gold star
episode, my friends. This isthe worst of the worst. It's as
bad as it gets. I'm goingto mention things in this episode that I
(00:52):
did not realize a human could doto other human beings. It's a short
episode because I just cannot speak aboutthis monster for longer than I have to.
And also most of the original accountsand historical you know, just writings
are lost. I had to translatequite a bit of what I could find
from German. There's just not alot of information. I actually hadn't heard
(01:15):
of this case before researching it,and I'm shocked because this is truly one
of the most disgusting, deranged humanbeings that has ever walked the earth.
In the late sixteenth century, thetown of Bedburg, Germany, was terrorized
by a creature that slaughtered its cattleand stole its women and children, killing
(01:36):
them with unspeakable cruelty. The horrifiedtownspeople feared that they were being besieged by
a demon, or just as bad, a vicious werewolf who lived among them.
This is the true story of PeterSteube, the werewolf of Bedburg,
whose crimes plunged a German town alreadyjust in the throes of political and religious
(01:59):
turmoil, into a horrific nightmare,and who's just absolutely heinous murders rivaled the
most vicious of any of today's mostgruesome slasher movies. Bedburg fifteen eighty two
setting a scene Peter Stub And youmight be confused if you have heard of
this before, because he's known bya lot of names, much like the
(02:20):
devil himself. He was also knownas Peter Stube without two b's, Peter
with two e's, Stub stub Ubbe, Peter Stube with numlat, and Peter
Stump, as well as the aliasesA Ball Griswold, A Bill Griswold,
and Uhbell Griswold. He was awealthy farmer in the rural community of Bedburg,
(02:43):
located in the Electorate of Cologne,Germany. The community knew him as
a widower and a father of twoadolescent children. He was a wealthy and
respected man by most accounts, butthis was the mask that Peter stub wore
in public. His true face wasonly seen by those he brutally attacked while
in where wolf Air quotes form forcontext. At the time, Catholicism and
(03:07):
Protestantism were at war for the heartsand minds of the people, which of
course brought invading armies from both faithsto Bedburg, and the people are like,
why we didn't ask for this?Please go away. There were also
outbreaks of the dreaded Black plague,so conflict and death were no strangers to
the people of the region, whichperhaps provided just a fertile ground for Stub's
(03:30):
foul deeds. The most comprehensive sourceon the case is a sixteen page pamphlet
published in London in fifteen ninety,which was a translation of a German print
of which no copies have survived.The English pamphlet, of which only two
copies still exist, one is inthe British Museum and the other is in
the Lambeth Library, were rediscovered byoccultist Montague Summers in nineteen twenty. He
(03:57):
described Stube's life, alleged crimes,and the trial, and included many statements
from neighbors and witnesses about the crimes. Summers reprinted the entire pamphlet, including
a Woodcut on pages two fifty threeto two fifty nine of his work The
Werewolf. I found additional information inthe diaries of Hermann von weinsberg And,
(04:18):
who was a Cologne Alderman, andby a number of illustrated broadsheets which were
printed in southern Germany and probably basedon the German version of the London pamphlet.
The original documents seemed to have beenlost during the wars of the centuries
that followed. It started with cattlemutilations. For many years, farmers around
(04:40):
Bedburg were mystified by the strange deathsof some of their cows. Day after
day for weeks, they would findtheir cattle dead in pastures, ripped open,
as if by some savage beast.The farmers naturally suspected wolves, but
in reality this was the beginning ofPeter Steube's acting on his compulsion to mutilate
inn kill. This insatiable drive wouldsoon escalate into attacks on the neighboring villagers.
(05:08):
Soon children began to disappear from theirfarms and homes. Young women vanished
from the past the paths that theywalked on daily. Some were found dead,
and some were found horribly mutilated.Others were never found at all.
The community was in a state ofpanic, and again wolves were suspected,
and the villagers armed themselves against theanimals. Some feared even more that a
(05:33):
devious creature, a ware wolf whocould walk amongst them, you know,
an unsuspected man then transform into awolf, was really the culprit. This
was shockingly the case. Although hedid not literally transform into a wolf,
Peter Stube would cloak himself with theskin of a wolf, so a wolf's
(05:53):
hide, when hunting his victims.At his trial, Stube confessed that the
devil himself gave him a magic beltof wolf fur at age twelve, and
that when he put it on,it transformed him into quote the likeness of
a greedy, devouring wolf, strongand mighty, with eyes great and large,
which in the night sparked like brandsof fire, a mouth great and
(06:15):
wide with the most sharp and cruelteeth, a huge body and mighty pause.
When he took off the belt,he believed that he returned to his
human form. To be clear,Peter Steube was not a werewolf. He
was a deranged serial killer, andover the course of his life he was
responsible for the deaths of thirteen children, two pregnant women, and numerous livestock.
(06:43):
And these were absolutely not ordinary murders. Trigger warnings here for just about
everything. This is as bad asit gets, all right, and give
you a second. The young womenamong his victims were sexually assault before he
tore them apart. This is oneof the most disturbing things I've ever heard.
Get ready. With the pregnant women, he ripped the fetuses from their
(07:06):
wombs and quote ate their hearts,panting hot and raw, which he later
described as dainty morsels men. Ihope he's being just tormented in a hell
dimension. Small children were strangled,bludgeoned, and their throats ripped open by
his bare hands. Some were disemboweledand partially eaten. Lambs and calves were
(07:30):
ripped apart and devoured raw. Inone instance of a triple murder, Stube
saw two men and a woman talkingor just taking a walk outside the city
walls of Bedburg, and he crouchedout of sight behind a bush. He
called out to one of the men. He knew their name, and he
said he needed some help moving somelumber. When the young man joined him
(07:51):
and was out of sight, ofthe others, Stube bashed his head in.
When the man didn't return, thesecond man went looking for him and
was also killed. Realizing that shewas in danger, the woman began to
run, but Stube managed to catchher. The men's battered bodies were later
found, but the woman never was, and it was thought that Stube,
(08:13):
after raping and killing her, mighthave eaten her completely. At least one
child was lucky enough to have escapedthe attack. Several children were playing in
a meadow when Stube ran after them, grabbing one small girl by the neck.
As the other children ran away,Stube tried to rip her throat out,
but his fingers were prevented by herstiff high collar. Thank god.
(08:37):
This gave her time to cry outfor help, and this cry alerted the
cattle, which, fearing for thesafety of their calves, charged after Stube.
This little girl was quite literally savedby charging cows. He released the
girl and fled, and she survived, and it's not known if she or
any of the other children were ableto identify Stube. Perhaps the most disgusting
(09:01):
murder he saved for his own family. Oh God. Stube had an incestuous
relationship with his sister and his owndaughter, whom he impregnated. I told
you this is as bad as itgets. He also murdered his own son,
his first born. Stube led theboy into the forest, killed him,
(09:22):
then ate his brains. Yeah,this is I'll give you a second.
This is a lot. Clearly,by any definition of the word,
Peter Stube was a monster. There'snot a word for what he was.
Yet all the while he remained unsuspectedby the townspeople. In The Damnable Life
and Death of Peter Earth, excuseme Stube Peter different name. Written just
(09:43):
two years after Stube's trial, GeorgeBores wrote quote in Sundry Times, he
would go through the streets of Colinand Bedburn and comely habit and very civilly
as one well known to all theinhabitants thereabout, And oftentimes was he saluted
of those whose friends and children hehad butchered, though nothing suspected for the
(10:07):
same. So he was walking aroundtown being saluted by people whose children he
had killed. Stu must have believedhimself invincible through the power of his magical
belt. But it was this beliefthat finally ended his reign of terror when
the limbs of several missing people werefound in a field. The villagers were
(10:28):
further convinced that a wolf was responsible, and so several hunters set out with
their dogs to pursue the killer.Now Here is where the story gets quite
strange, and you're like, no, this can't get any stranger, Please
don't do this to me. Themen hunted the creature for days until at
last they saw him. But accordingto the account, they saw and chased
(10:50):
down a wolf, not a man. The dogs chased the animal until they
had it cornered. The hunters weresure, they were positive that they had
been chasing a wolf, But whenthey came to the spot where the dogs
had it cornered, there cowered bitchboy Peter Stube. According to George Bore's
account, being trapped with no roomfor escape, Stube removed his magic belt
(11:15):
and transformed from the wolf back intohis human form. The hunters, though
they saw no magic belt, youknow, as Stube claimed, they had,
but only an ordinary walking stick inhis hand. At first, they
didn't believe their own eyes. Youknow, after all, Stube was a
respected, longtime resident. How couldhe be a killer, let alone a
(11:37):
fucking were wolf? Perhaps this reallywasn't Peter Stube at all, they reasoned,
but a devilish trick. I don'tthink so. So they escorted Stube
to his house and determined that hewas indeed the Peter Stube. They knew.
He was arrested and tried for hiscrimes, thought now to be a
(11:58):
were wolf. I know that wasthe thought, to be awarewolf. Stube
was brought to trial, and itwas only under pain of torture on the
rack that his confession to all ofhis heinous deeds came out, including sorcery,
consort with the devil, and thestory of the magic belt. This
fact has led some researchers to surmisethat Stube was in fact innocent, that
(12:20):
his wild confession was elicited by torture. I would disagree. Perhaps Stube himself
was a victim of the superstition andreligious rivalry taking place at the time.
The fear and conviction of a demoninspired werewolf might lead people back to the
true church, whether he was trulya serial killer or a political victim.
(12:41):
Stube was found guilty on October twentyeighth, fifteen eighty nine, and his
execution was as gruesome of any ofthe crimes of which he was accused good.
His body was strapped spread eagle ona large wheel with red hot pincers.
His executioners pulled his flesh from hisbones in ten spots. His arms
(13:01):
and legs were broken with the largeaxe, and his head was cut off
on October thirty, first Halloween.Of course today it wasn't then. Peter
Stube's body, along with his daughterand his mistress, both of whom were
convicted of abetting his crimes, wereburned at the stake by direction of the
magistrate. A warning to other potentialdevil worshipers was put in place for all
(13:26):
to see. The wheel on whichStube was tortured was set high upon a
pole from which it hung sixteen orthey hung sixteen yard long strips of wood
representing his sixteen known victims. Atopthat was the framed likeness of a wolf,
and above, on a sharpened pointof the pole was Peter Steube's severed
(13:46):
head. So was he a werewolf? Well, there may be no
way of knowing for certain whether PeterStube was just a patsy for the authorities.
You know, which means a wolfor wolves really were responsible for the
deaths, or whether he was amaniacal serial killer of just the most abominable
kind. In any case, hewas certainly not a shape shifting wolf.
(14:09):
And George Bore's account of how thehunters chase him down and you know,
found him transformed was made up toAiden Stube's conviction and to reinforce the superstitions
of his readers, because of coursethere are no real werewolves or are they?
What do you think this guy apatsy, this guy werewolf? This
(14:30):
guy just a fucking lunatic my thoughts. I don't think he was a were
wolf at all. I mean theyfound him, they found a werewolf's pelt,
and he was seen by witnesses wearingit like like a costume, like
trying to make himself look like awolf. And he confessed to the belt
(14:56):
thing before he was tortured. Sofrom what I could tell of the accounts,
So why would he say something likethat if if it weren't true.
I understand he was tortured into aconfession, but who who would confess to
doing any of those things? Alsothe killing his own son and eating his
(15:18):
brains, Like, I don't thinka wolf did that. I think he
did that. Was he responsible forevery single one of those murders? I
don't know. This is a longtime ago, this is the fifteen hundreds.
There's no way to know. Uhreal werewolf absolutely not. I don't
think that for even half a second. That's like, while I think were
(15:39):
wolf tails are compelling and you know, fun to listen to, that's one
of the creatures that, like,I think, I probably believe is least
likely to be real. I don'tknow why, but it's just like one
of those things. I don't know. I've just never really believed in them.
Watch now, I'll get attacked andkilled by a werewolf for saying that
serves me, right, I guessno. I think that this was a
(16:00):
man, a flesh and blood man, who put on the pelt of a
werewolf, and I think he wasderanged. I don't know what. If
he suffered from some sort of mentalillness, it's very very possible, and
believed that he was a werewolf,believed that that belt really did turn him
into a werewolf. But I thinkthat he did kill a good a good
(16:22):
amount of those people. I don'tknow if he really did kill the cattle
or not. I think he didkill the people. I just don't really,
I don't see a way around.It's like there's no alternative suspects.
It's like, if he didn't doit, if he didn't kill all those
people who did, who is thealternative suspect. I think that he ended
(16:44):
up becoming not he wasn't a patsybecause I don't think he was innocent,
but I think he became like sortof a political martyr. Not that he
was innocent and died, you know, being innocent. But I think that
they saw him this man who committedall these murders saying I'm in league with
the devil, and the devil gaveme this magical belt, and they're like,
oh, we can use this tosteer people back to the one True
(17:07):
Church. That's that's what I thinkthat was. I don't think that they
were just like, we're gonna justblame it on this guy, this one
random guy. No police and dogschased this thing that they said was that
looked like a were wolf or awolf, and it looked like a wolf
because it was Peter Stube wearing awolf's pelt and he didn't have a belts
(17:30):
or anything like that. He waswearing a pelt. They chased him down
with dogs, found him in afield. It was him, Like,
I don't think there's really many waysaround it. But again I could be
totally wrong. I could be totalI don't want to defend this guy though,
you know what I mean, Idon't want to defend him at all.
Also, if you're a werewolf,please don't kill me. I'm sorry
I said that. I don't believein you. But like, I've never
(17:53):
seen a good credible account of awere wolf. And maybe that's because they
kill everybody and then they turn intowere wolves too. I don't know.
I just don't know. I lovethe movie An American Werewolf in London.
I love the howling. I lovewerewolf stuff, but that one, to
me is just like the most farout there, like the least believable.
(18:18):
If you've had an encounter with awerewolf, if you are a werewolf,
let me know, let me knowthat you're real, and I'll shut up.
I'll eat my hat. As theysay, I'm not gonna eat a
hat, but you know what Imean, maybe I will. Maybe I'll
grill it and eat it with aknife and fork in front of you.
If you can prove to me thatyou are a werewolf and not kill me.
That's the stipulation. You can't killme. You prove that you are
(18:40):
a werewolf, but you don't killme. I'll eat a hat. I'll
eat the hat rawf you want.I won't even cook it. I'm not
gonna try to church it up.Okay, I'll eat whatever. I'll eat
a boot. You know, ifyou prove without killing me that you were
a werewolf, I'll do one ofthose things. But yeah, that is
the werewolf of Bedburg one of theworst worst cases I've ever looked into.
(19:07):
I mean, I know there's alot of truly gory, horrific murders that
have been committed by some truly derangedhuman beings, but good Lord, like
the things this man confessed to,Even if you're being tortured, why would
you confess to things as bad asthis guy confessed to? Like, just
say, yeah, I killed thesepeople. You don't have to go on
about eating fetuses and talking about thembeing tasty little treats or whatever the hell
(19:32):
he said. Like he didn't haveto confess to all that. I just
knew. God. Well, hopefullynext episode will be more fun. I've
got like eighteen written currently. Ifyou're a Patreon member, you have an
exclusive episode waiting for you right now. Go listen to it. If you're
not a Patreon member, you're missingout. There's some good stuff there.
(19:55):
You get ad free episodes, youget a free sticker, you get bonus
content, and you get to voteon the topics of episodes. Go give
it a look, and you getto support me. You know this is
hard work. Ain't nobody paying me. It'd be cool if they did,
though, you know, that wouldbe sweet. If I got some form
of payment for doing this, thatwould be awesome. That's the dream.
(20:18):
I don't think it will ever bea reality. Really, you know,
I'll make some some minor ducats fromadvertising revenue, Like please, can you
spare a penny for an ad?Listen? It's not your problem. I
appreciate you listening, And remember,if it's creepy and weird, you'll find
it here.
Dark Cast Network. Welcome to thedark Side of podcasting. Hey, Hey,
welcome back to Autumn Zodities. I'mAutumn. This is a gold star
episode, my friends. This isthe worst of the worst. It's as
bad as it gets. I'm goingto mention things in this episode that I
(00:52):
did not realize a human could doto other human beings. It's a short
episode because I just cannot speak aboutthis monster for longer than I have to.
And also most of the original accountsand historical you know, just writings
are lost. I had to translatequite a bit of what I could find
from German. There's just not alot of information. I actually hadn't heard
(01:15):
of this case before researching it,and I'm shocked because this is truly one
of the most disgusting, deranged humanbeings that has ever walked the earth.
In the late sixteenth century, thetown of Bedburg, Germany, was terrorized
by a creature that slaughtered its cattleand stole its women and children, killing
(01:36):
them with unspeakable cruelty. The horrifiedtownspeople feared that they were being besieged by
a demon, or just as bad, a vicious werewolf who lived among them.
This is the true story of PeterSteube, the werewolf of Bedburg,
whose crimes plunged a German town alreadyjust in the throes of political and religious
(01:59):
turmoil, into a horrific nightmare,and who's just absolutely heinous murders rivaled the
most vicious of any of today's mostgruesome slasher movies. Bedburg fifteen eighty two
setting a scene Peter Stub And youmight be confused if you have heard of
this before, because he's known bya lot of names, much like the
(02:20):
devil himself. He was also knownas Peter Stube without two b's, Peter
with two e's, Stub stub Ubbe, Peter Stube with numlat, and Peter
Stump, as well as the aliasesA Ball Griswold, A Bill Griswold,
and Uhbell Griswold. He was awealthy farmer in the rural community of Bedburg,
(02:43):
located in the Electorate of Cologne,Germany. The community knew him as
a widower and a father of twoadolescent children. He was a wealthy and
respected man by most accounts, butthis was the mask that Peter stub wore
in public. His true face wasonly seen by those he brutally attacked while
in where wolf Air quotes form forcontext. At the time, Catholicism and
(03:07):
Protestantism were at war for the heartsand minds of the people, which of
course brought invading armies from both faithsto Bedburg, and the people are like,
why we didn't ask for this?Please go away. There were also
outbreaks of the dreaded Black plague,so conflict and death were no strangers to
the people of the region, whichperhaps provided just a fertile ground for Stub's
(03:30):
foul deeds. The most comprehensive sourceon the case is a sixteen page pamphlet
published in London in fifteen ninety,which was a translation of a German print
of which no copies have survived.The English pamphlet, of which only two
copies still exist, one is inthe British Museum and the other is in
the Lambeth Library, were rediscovered byoccultist Montague Summers in nineteen twenty. He
(03:57):
described Stube's life, alleged crimes,and the trial, and included many statements
from neighbors and witnesses about the crimes. Summers reprinted the entire pamphlet, including
a Woodcut on pages two fifty threeto two fifty nine of his work The
Werewolf. I found additional information inthe diaries of Hermann von weinsberg And,
(04:18):
who was a Cologne Alderman, andby a number of illustrated broadsheets which were
printed in southern Germany and probably basedon the German version of the London pamphlet.
The original documents seemed to have beenlost during the wars of the centuries
that followed. It started with cattlemutilations. For many years, farmers around
(04:40):
Bedburg were mystified by the strange deathsof some of their cows. Day after
day for weeks, they would findtheir cattle dead in pastures, ripped open,
as if by some savage beast.The farmers naturally suspected wolves, but
in reality this was the beginning ofPeter Steube's acting on his compulsion to mutilate
inn kill. This insatiable drive wouldsoon escalate into attacks on the neighboring villagers.
(05:08):
Soon children began to disappear from theirfarms and homes. Young women vanished
from the past the paths that theywalked on daily. Some were found dead,
and some were found horribly mutilated.Others were never found at all.
The community was in a state ofpanic, and again wolves were suspected,
and the villagers armed themselves against theanimals. Some feared even more that a
(05:33):
devious creature, a ware wolf whocould walk amongst them, you know,
an unsuspected man then transform into awolf, was really the culprit. This
was shockingly the case. Although hedid not literally transform into a wolf,
Peter Stube would cloak himself with theskin of a wolf, so a wolf's
(05:53):
hide, when hunting his victims.At his trial, Stube confessed that the
devil himself gave him a magic beltof wolf fur at age twelve, and
that when he put it on,it transformed him into quote the likeness of
a greedy, devouring wolf, strongand mighty, with eyes great and large,
which in the night sparked like brandsof fire, a mouth great and
(06:15):
wide with the most sharp and cruelteeth, a huge body and mighty pause.
When he took off the belt,he believed that he returned to his
human form. To be clear,Peter Steube was not a werewolf. He
was a deranged serial killer, andover the course of his life he was
responsible for the deaths of thirteen children, two pregnant women, and numerous livestock.
(06:43):
And these were absolutely not ordinary murders. Trigger warnings here for just about
everything. This is as bad asit gets, all right, and give
you a second. The young womenamong his victims were sexually assault before he
tore them apart. This is oneof the most disturbing things I've ever heard.
Get ready. With the pregnant women, he ripped the fetuses from their
(07:06):
wombs and quote ate their hearts,panting hot and raw, which he later
described as dainty morsels men. Ihope he's being just tormented in a hell
dimension. Small children were strangled,bludgeoned, and their throats ripped open by
his bare hands. Some were disemboweledand partially eaten. Lambs and calves were
(07:30):
ripped apart and devoured raw. Inone instance of a triple murder, Stube
saw two men and a woman talkingor just taking a walk outside the city
walls of Bedburg, and he crouchedout of sight behind a bush. He
called out to one of the men. He knew their name, and he
said he needed some help moving somelumber. When the young man joined him
(07:51):
and was out of sight, ofthe others, Stube bashed his head in.
When the man didn't return, thesecond man went looking for him and
was also killed. Realizing that shewas in danger, the woman began to
run, but Stube managed to catchher. The men's battered bodies were later
found, but the woman never was, and it was thought that Stube,
(08:13):
after raping and killing her, mighthave eaten her completely. At least one
child was lucky enough to have escapedthe attack. Several children were playing in
a meadow when Stube ran after them, grabbing one small girl by the neck.
As the other children ran away,Stube tried to rip her throat out,
but his fingers were prevented by herstiff high collar. Thank god.
(08:37):
This gave her time to cry outfor help, and this cry alerted the
cattle, which, fearing for thesafety of their calves, charged after Stube.
This little girl was quite literally savedby charging cows. He released the
girl and fled, and she survived, and it's not known if she or
any of the other children were ableto identify Stube. Perhaps the most disgusting
(09:01):
murder he saved for his own family. Oh God. Stube had an incestuous
relationship with his sister and his owndaughter, whom he impregnated. I told
you this is as bad as itgets. He also murdered his own son,
his first born. Stube led theboy into the forest, killed him,
(09:22):
then ate his brains. Yeah,this is I'll give you a second.
This is a lot. Clearly,by any definition of the word,
Peter Stube was a monster. There'snot a word for what he was.
Yet all the while he remained unsuspectedby the townspeople. In The Damnable Life
and Death of Peter Earth, excuseme Stube Peter different name. Written just
(09:43):
two years after Stube's trial, GeorgeBores wrote quote in Sundry Times, he
would go through the streets of Colinand Bedburn and comely habit and very civilly
as one well known to all theinhabitants thereabout, And oftentimes was he saluted
of those whose friends and children hehad butchered, though nothing suspected for the
(10:07):
same. So he was walking aroundtown being saluted by people whose children he
had killed. Stu must have believedhimself invincible through the power of his magical
belt. But it was this beliefthat finally ended his reign of terror when
the limbs of several missing people werefound in a field. The villagers were
(10:28):
further convinced that a wolf was responsible, and so several hunters set out with
their dogs to pursue the killer.Now Here is where the story gets quite
strange, and you're like, no, this can't get any stranger, Please
don't do this to me. Themen hunted the creature for days until at
last they saw him. But accordingto the account, they saw and chased
(10:50):
down a wolf, not a man. The dogs chased the animal until they
had it cornered. The hunters weresure, they were positive that they had
been chasing a wolf, But whenthey came to the spot where the dogs
had it cornered, there cowered bitchboy Peter Stube. According to George Bore's
account, being trapped with no roomfor escape, Stube removed his magic belt
(11:15):
and transformed from the wolf back intohis human form. The hunters, though
they saw no magic belt, youknow, as Stube claimed, they had,
but only an ordinary walking stick inhis hand. At first, they
didn't believe their own eyes. Youknow, after all, Stube was a
respected, longtime resident. How couldhe be a killer, let alone a
(11:37):
fucking were wolf? Perhaps this reallywasn't Peter Stube at all, they reasoned,
but a devilish trick. I don'tthink so. So they escorted Stube
to his house and determined that hewas indeed the Peter Stube. They knew.
He was arrested and tried for hiscrimes, thought now to be a
(11:58):
were wolf. I know that wasthe thought, to be awarewolf. Stube
was brought to trial, and itwas only under pain of torture on the
rack that his confession to all ofhis heinous deeds came out, including sorcery,
consort with the devil, and thestory of the magic belt. This
fact has led some researchers to surmisethat Stube was in fact innocent, that
(12:20):
his wild confession was elicited by torture. I would disagree. Perhaps Stube himself
was a victim of the superstition andreligious rivalry taking place at the time.
The fear and conviction of a demoninspired werewolf might lead people back to the
true church, whether he was trulya serial killer or a political victim.
(12:41):
Stube was found guilty on October twentyeighth, fifteen eighty nine, and his
execution was as gruesome of any ofthe crimes of which he was accused good.
His body was strapped spread eagle ona large wheel with red hot pincers.
His executioners pulled his flesh from hisbones in ten spots. His arms
(13:01):
and legs were broken with the largeaxe, and his head was cut off
on October thirty, first Halloween.Of course today it wasn't then. Peter
Stube's body, along with his daughterand his mistress, both of whom were
convicted of abetting his crimes, wereburned at the stake by direction of the
magistrate. A warning to other potentialdevil worshipers was put in place for all
(13:26):
to see. The wheel on whichStube was tortured was set high upon a
pole from which it hung sixteen orthey hung sixteen yard long strips of wood
representing his sixteen known victims. Atopthat was the framed likeness of a wolf,
and above, on a sharpened pointof the pole was Peter Steube's severed
(13:46):
head. So was he a werewolf? Well, there may be no
way of knowing for certain whether PeterStube was just a patsy for the authorities.
You know, which means a wolfor wolves really were responsible for the
deaths, or whether he was amaniacal serial killer of just the most abominable
kind. In any case, hewas certainly not a shape shifting wolf.
(14:09):
And George Bore's account of how thehunters chase him down and you know,
found him transformed was made up toAiden Stube's conviction and to reinforce the superstitions
of his readers, because of coursethere are no real werewolves or are they?
What do you think this guy apatsy, this guy werewolf? This
(14:30):
guy just a fucking lunatic my thoughts. I don't think he was a were
wolf at all. I mean theyfound him, they found a werewolf's pelt,
and he was seen by witnesses wearingit like like a costume, like
trying to make himself look like awolf. And he confessed to the belt
(14:56):
thing before he was tortured. Sofrom what I could tell of the accounts,
So why would he say something likethat if if it weren't true.
I understand he was tortured into aconfession, but who who would confess to
doing any of those things? Alsothe killing his own son and eating his
(15:18):
brains, Like, I don't thinka wolf did that. I think he
did that. Was he responsible forevery single one of those murders? I
don't know. This is a longtime ago, this is the fifteen hundreds.
There's no way to know. Uhreal werewolf absolutely not. I don't
think that for even half a second. That's like, while I think were
(15:39):
wolf tails are compelling and you know, fun to listen to, that's one
of the creatures that, like,I think, I probably believe is least
likely to be real. I don'tknow why, but it's just like one
of those things. I don't know. I've just never really believed in them.
Watch now, I'll get attacked andkilled by a werewolf for saying that
serves me, right, I guessno. I think that this was a
(16:00):
man, a flesh and blood man, who put on the pelt of a
werewolf, and I think he wasderanged. I don't know what. If
he suffered from some sort of mentalillness, it's very very possible, and
believed that he was a werewolf,believed that that belt really did turn him
into a werewolf. But I thinkthat he did kill a good a good
(16:22):
amount of those people. I don'tknow if he really did kill the cattle
or not. I think he didkill the people. I just don't really,
I don't see a way around.It's like there's no alternative suspects.
It's like, if he didn't doit, if he didn't kill all those
people who did, who is thealternative suspect. I think that he ended
(16:44):
up becoming not he wasn't a patsybecause I don't think he was innocent,
but I think he became like sortof a political martyr. Not that he
was innocent and died, you know, being innocent. But I think that
they saw him this man who committedall these murders saying I'm in league with
the devil, and the devil gaveme this magical belt, and they're like,
oh, we can use this tosteer people back to the one True
(17:07):
Church. That's that's what I thinkthat was. I don't think that they
were just like, we're gonna justblame it on this guy, this one
random guy. No police and dogschased this thing that they said was that
looked like a were wolf or awolf, and it looked like a wolf
because it was Peter Stube wearing awolf's pelt and he didn't have a belts
(17:30):
or anything like that. He waswearing a pelt. They chased him down
with dogs, found him in afield. It was him, Like,
I don't think there's really many waysaround it. But again I could be
totally wrong. I could be totalI don't want to defend this guy though,
you know what I mean, Idon't want to defend him at all.
Also, if you're a werewolf,please don't kill me. I'm sorry
I said that. I don't believein you. But like, I've never
(17:53):
seen a good credible account of awere wolf. And maybe that's because they
kill everybody and then they turn intowere wolves too. I don't know.
I just don't know. I lovethe movie An American Werewolf in London.
I love the howling. I lovewerewolf stuff, but that one, to
me is just like the most farout there, like the least believable.
(18:18):
If you've had an encounter with awerewolf, if you are a werewolf,
let me know, let me knowthat you're real, and I'll shut up.
I'll eat my hat. As theysay, I'm not gonna eat a
hat, but you know what Imean, maybe I will. Maybe I'll
grill it and eat it with aknife and fork in front of you.
If you can prove to me thatyou are a werewolf and not kill me.
That's the stipulation. You can't killme. You prove that you are
(18:40):
a werewolf, but you don't killme. I'll eat a hat. I'll
eat the hat rawf you want.I won't even cook it. I'm not
gonna try to church it up.Okay, I'll eat whatever. I'll eat
a boot. You know, ifyou prove without killing me that you were
a werewolf, I'll do one ofthose things. But yeah, that is
the werewolf of Bedburg one of theworst worst cases I've ever looked into.
(19:07):
I mean, I know there's alot of truly gory, horrific murders that
have been committed by some truly derangedhuman beings, but good Lord, like
the things this man confessed to,Even if you're being tortured, why would
you confess to things as bad asthis guy confessed to? Like, just
say, yeah, I killed thesepeople. You don't have to go on
about eating fetuses and talking about thembeing tasty little treats or whatever the hell
(19:32):
he said. Like he didn't haveto confess to all that. I just
knew. God. Well, hopefullynext episode will be more fun. I've
got like eighteen written currently. Ifyou're a Patreon member, you have an
exclusive episode waiting for you right now. Go listen to it. If you're
not a Patreon member, you're missingout. There's some good stuff there.
(19:55):
You get ad free episodes, youget a free sticker, you get bonus
content, and you get to voteon the topics of episodes. Go give
it a look, and you getto support me. You know this is
hard work. Ain't nobody paying me. It'd be cool if they did,
though, you know, that wouldbe sweet. If I got some form
of payment for doing this, thatwould be awesome. That's the dream.
(20:18):
I don't think it will ever bea reality. Really, you know,
I'll make some some minor ducats fromadvertising revenue, Like please, can you
spare a penny for an ad?Listen? It's not your problem. I
appreciate you listening, And remember,if it's creepy and weird, you'll find
it here.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!