The Peter Bergmann case is an
unsolved mystery pertaining to the death of an unidentified man in County Sligo,
Ireland. From 12 to 16 June 2009, a man using the alias "Peter
Bergmann" visited the coastal seaport town of Sligo, in northwest
Ireland. He used this alias to check into the Sligo City Hotel, where he stayed
during the majority of his visit, and was described by the hotel staff and tenants
as having a heavy German accent. The man's movements were captured on CCTV throughout the town;
however, the details of his actions and intentions remain unknown. His
interactions with other people were limited, and little is known of his origins
or the reason for his visit to Sligo.
On the morning of
16 June, the body of the unidentified man was discovered at Rosses Point
beach, a popular recreation destination and fishing area near Sligo. Despite
having conducted a five-month investigation into the death of "Peter
Bergmann", the police have never been able to identify the man or develop
any leads in the case.[1]
The mystery is
often compared to the Tamam Shud case, of Australia, in which an
unidentified man was found dead on a beach shortly after World War II,
though the Peter Bergmann case has not achieved nearly the same amount of
notoriety or international coverage. This case remains obscure to the public,
and the official investigation has not extended to outside of Ireland.
The case received renewed attention
in the 2010s. It was the subject of a 2013 documentary, The Last Days of
Peter Bergmann, which was shown at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and has developed a
small following on social media websites such as Reddit,
where readers have constructed theories of the case.
Physical description
Bergmann had a
slender build, short grey hair, and appeared to be in his late 50s or early
60s. He stood five feet and ten and a half inches tall with blue eyes and a tan
complexion. From witness reports, the man was of Germanic descent and spoke
with a thick German accent. He was neatly groomed; his face was shaven and his
hair was clean and combed.
The man was well
dressed wearing a black leather jacket, blue trousers, blue socks, a black
leather belt and a pair of black shoes. His clothes were from C&A,
a popular fashion retail store in Europe with most of its stores in Germany and
Austria. From the man's appearance it was assumed he was a professional worker.
He was a frequent smoker and several surveillance videos show him smoking
outside often.
Timeline of events[
On Friday, 12
June, the unknown man was first spotted at the Ulster Bus Depot in Derry
between the time of 14:30 and 16:00. He boarded a bus headed to Sligo Station,
carrying a black shoulder bag and a standard carry-on luggage bag. He arrived
at 18:28 at the Sligo Bus Station and took a taxi to the Sligo City Hotel where
he paid €65 per night in cash. While checking in, he gave the false name of
"Peter Bergmann" and listed his address as Ainstettersn 15, 4472, Vienna,
Austria.
During his stay
at the hotel, the man was seen on security camera footage leaving the building
with a purple plastic bag full of items or personal effects. However, when he
returned from his long walk he was no longer carrying the bag. It is presumed
that he was disposing of his belongings throughout the town of Sligo and then
folding the bag and putting it in his pocket. Authorities were unable to
identify what he was throwing away in the public rubbish bins as the man used
the blind spots of the surveillance cameras to his advantage. His movements
were very meticulous and methodical as if he knew where to hide his personal
belongings that could have identified him.
On Saturday, 13
June, the man is seen walking to the General Post Office at 10:49 and purchases
eight 82-cent stamps and airmail stickers.
On Sunday, 14
June, between 11:00 and 11:30 the man left the Sligo City Hotel and asked a
taxi driver recommendations for a nice quiet beach where he could swim. The
taxi driver stated that Rosses Point would be the best place and proceeded to
drive the unknown man to the beach. The man returned with the same taxi and was
dropped off at the bus station in Sligo.
The next day
(Monday, 15 June), the man checked out of the hotel at 13:06 and handed in his
room key. He left with a black shoulder bag, a purple plastic bag, and a
different black luggage bag. He did not have the same black carry-on luggage
bag he had when he first arrived in Sligo. He walked to the bus station via
Quay Street, Wine Street and stopped at Quayside Shopping Centre and awkwardly
waited in the doorway for a number of minutes. At 13:16 he left the Quayside
Shopping Centre and walked along Wine Street in the direction of the bus
station, still carrying all three bags. At 13:38 he ordered a cappuccino
and a ham and cheese toasted sandwich at the bus station. While eating his
food, he looked at pieces of paper that he kept in his pocket. After reading
the pieces of paper, he tore the paper in half and threw it away in a nearby
rubbish bin. He then mounted a bus that departed at 14:20 for Rosses Point. It
was reported that he was seen by 16 people while walking on the beach, casually
greeting the passersby.
The following
morning, Tuesday 16 June, Arthur Kinsella and his son Brian, who was training
for a triathlon,
found his body lying on the beach at 6:45 in the morning. Arthur and Brian said
the Lord's Prayer for the man, and then called the police.
At 8:10, Dr Valerie McGowan officially pronounced the man dead. Following the
discovery of the man's dead body, a five-month investigation was conducted by the
police.
Upon the police
investigation following his death, the address he gave belonged to a vacant
lot. This implies that the man wanted to remain unknown and he pre-emptively
planned his moves so that he could not be identified.
After death
According to the post mortem
report, the body of the man was found naked on Rosses Point beach with his
clothes scattered along the shore, with no wallet, money or form of
identification. The Sligo medical
examiner deemed the cause of death to be drowning and found no signs
of foul play that would give reason to believe the man's death was a homicide.
The man's teeth were in good condition and showed signs of frequent dental work
in his life. He had bridging, root canals, crowns and had a full gold tooth on
the upper back right side of his mouth and a small silver filling along the gum
of a tooth on the left side of the lower jaw.
Despite his
well-groomed and dressed exterior, the man was in very poor health. The post
mortem showed that he had advanced stages of prostate cancer and bone tumors.
His heart showed signs of previous heart attacks and he possessed only one
kidney, the other being removed. For a man who had serious health conditions,
the toxicology report stated that he had no medication of any sort in his
system. The medical examiner stated that, due to his heart attacks and health
status, the man would have been in significant pain and required prescription
pain medicine or at least over-the-counter pain relievers to manage his pain.
After a
five-month investigation the body was buried in Sligo. The funeral was attended
by four policemen.
In 2015, the French newspaper Le Monde
reported that they had contacted the Austrian police about the case and that
the Austrian police commented that the Irish police had never contacted them. Le
Monde also reported that there is no Interpol
notice for the unidentified man, stating that as the body is recovered he does
not fall into the two Interpol categories of 'missing person' or a 'wanted
person'. It is up to his country of origin to report him as missing.
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