On February, 1996, the sleepy spa town of Merano in northern Italy was dubbed "the city of fear" by the Italian press after four murders over a three week period. "We are all living in fear," said Franz Alber, the Mayor, "we are dealing with a psychopath." All victims were shot in the head with a .22-calibre pistol.
The killings began on February 8, when a German Bundesbank official, Hans Otto Detmering, and his companion, a local woman teacher, were shot dead in a central street. There was speculation at the time that the "Bundesbank murder" was connected with an international banking scandal or a tangled love affair. But it was followed a week later by the murder of a 58-year-old farm laborer on the outskirts of town. He too was shot in the head at close range.
On March 1, 1996, authorities identified the killer as Ferdinand Gamper, a local shepherd. After a fifth body was found in a hut near his house, police stormed his farm two miles from the town. There Ferdinand held two elderly women hostage whom he freed once the cops tear gassed the farm house. The deadly shepherd scribbled "You were too late" on a piece of paper and shot himself . During the assault one policemen died.