Vigilante justice: Meet the ”Revenge mom”

On March 6, 1981, a woman named Marianne Bachmeier entered a courtroom in Lübeck, Germany, on a calm but determined morning. The events that followed would shock a country and have a lasting impact on the world for decades. With a small loaded pistol in her handbag, Marianne aimed at Klaus Grabowski, the man who is suspected of kidnapping, abusing, and killing her daughter Anna, age seven. He died on the courtroom floor after she shot him seven times in a few seconds.

Marianne was arrested right away, but she didn’t apologize. In her most broken moments, she had done what many parents might secretly wish they could do: she had exacted her own justice. Her emotional and unvarnished act provoked controversy around the world.