Published October 13, 2022
9 min read
On October 31, 1589, a large crowd gathered in the German city of Bedburg, near Cologne, to witness an execution. The condemned man was Peter Stump, a 50-year-old farmer who had confessed to making a pact with the devil. He wasn’t seeking riches; he wanted the ability to turn into a werewolf. His shocking crimes included multiple murders and cannibalism. Of the 16 people he killed, 13 were children–his own son among them, whose brain he allegedly devoured. He also admitted to having had sexual relations with his daughter and with a succubus (a demon in the guise of a beautiful woman). “Of all other that ever lived, none was comparable unto this Hellhound,” an account of his execution said.
Stump (called Stubbe and Stumpf in some sources) suffered terribly during his execution, one of the most brutal on record. He was strapped to a wheel and skinned alive. His bones were broken. He was decapitated and then his body burned at the stake. As a warning, his head was impaled on a post in the center of the village.
