Austrian Psycho: Writer Behind the Killings (BONUS)

Daphne Woolsoncroft (0:17)

And I'm your host Daphne.

Heath Merryman (0:18)

And you're listening to Real Crime.

Daphne Woolsoncroft (0:21)

Hello, everybody. Hope you're doing well. We are officially in fall, if you're listening to this, when it comes out. We have a very, like, spooky, wild story for you guys today that's kind of like a more modern Jack the Ripper type of situation, I guess.

Heath Merryman (0:37)

Yes. And it seems like there's a fail in the justice system within today's case, but there's also numerous convictions, which is kind of crazy, like to wrap your head around that.

Daphne Woolsoncroft (0:49)

This story is like nothing else. It's wild. If you haven't heard it, buckle up.

Heath Merryman (0:54)

All right, guys. Well, without further ado, this is the story of Jack Unterweger. So let's get into it.

Daphne Woolsoncroft (1:33)

In the early 1990s, a celebrated Austrian writer and journalist headed to Los Angeles to write about a string of murders. But as women began turning up dead across Europe when he returned, a far darker motive began to take shape. What followed was an investigation tangled in celebrity, journalism, manipulation, and a chilling question. Had the man writing about murder been hiding much closer to it than anyone realized?

This is the story of Jack Unterweger, Austrian psycho.

The year was 1991, and after dark, specific stretches of Los Angeles took on an entirely different identity. Along Hollywood and Sunset Boulevard, prostitution was so visible that business owners and residents alike began repeatedly calling police to voice their concerns. But Hollywood also had a reputation of being a prime destination for runaway teens from all around the country and even the world. Oftentimes, these young women with stars in their eyes would end up homeless, hungry, and in vulnerable positions only for local pimps in the area to take advantage of that and offer food, shelter, money, and a small sense of security.

In fact, by the early 1990s, law enforcement and social workers estimated that over 10,000 juveniles were homeless in Los Angeles County alone. I mean, sex work was so prevalent that Los Angeles was being labeled as the teenage prostitution capital of the country. In 1990, police had made nearly 2,000 sex work related arrests in just Hollywood alone. And in March of 1991, authorities conducted a sweep of the local hotspots around the city. And within an 8-hour period, more than 40 women and girls were arrested in connection with sex work. But these arrests actually did very little to solve the underlying problem, because some of these women and girls who were arrested would just end up returning right back to the streets within hours of release, because of course, they didn't have anywhere else to go. But sex work wasn't the only issue that plagued the city of LA, because by the end of 1991, the Hollywood Division would record 48 homicides, 145 rapes, 2,500 robberies, and more than 2,400 aggravated assaults. And it was into this dark underworld in the summer of 1991 that a journalist from Austria arrived in Los Angeles.

His name was Jack Unterweger, and this was exactly what he had come to write about.

Heath Merryman (4:42)

So on June 11, 1991, 40-year-old Jack Unterweger touched down in Los Angeles, traveling 6,000 miles from Vienna, Austria, with the goal of reporting on the differences between American and European sex trades. At only 5'7, tall with a youthful face, dark hair, and an unmistakably European sense of style, Jack was ready for the spotlight. He was sent to the US as a freelance writer for numerous Austrian publications, being commissioned by magazines as well as ORF, which is Austria's national public broadcaster. And six days before leaving for Los Angeles, an Australian publication aired a report for its current affairs program called Journal Panorama, with the title, quote, Fear in the red light district. Now, back home in Austria, Jack had a larger than life persona. He was known for being charismatic, theatrical, and intensely image conscious. He appeared on television, gave public readings, and moved through fashionable social circles in Vienna, sporting his taste for expensive clothing, like silk shirts and tailored suits, and his trademark crisp white suits. He would be seen around town driving his white Ford Mustang with a custom license plate that read W. Jack 1

So it was safe to say that Jack was somewhat of a hometown hero or literary celebrity if you will, and he was known for his poetry, short stories, plays, and children's stories, as well as an autobiographical novel that he had written about himself. Well, when Jack arrived in LA, his first order of business was finding a place to stay for the course of the next five weeks while exploring the city and gathering material for his upcoming articles. And the hotel that he chose was a very interesting one with an extremely dark past. The Cecil Hotel located at 640 South Main Street in downtown Los Angeles, right by the infamous Skid Row, is where Jack decided to stay during his time in LA.