Dolly Oesterreich at the time of her arrest (Source: Murderpedia) |
The story starts out simple enough, sexually unsatisfied wife takes lover, because the husband prefers the bottle. One day a young repairman comes knocking and instead of fixing her sowingmachine, Dolly and Sanhuber begin an affair that spans more than one decade. When the neighbours grow suspicious of the frequent visits of the repairguy - it is America 1913 - Dolly suggests her lover quits his job and moves into the attic.
Of course he has to break of contact with the rest of the world, but the young man doesn't seem to mind, he loves Dolly as a "boy who loves his mother" Five years go by where Sanhuber spends his days in the attic, reading books, writing pulp novels and having sex with Dolly. Yes, a hundred years ago there was no
Facebook, TV or mobile phones.
The way to the secret room is through a closet (Source Murderpedia) |
Meanwhile hubbie Fred believes he is seeing ghosts, shadows in the night, voices and his cigars go missing. His wife Dolly agrees to move to L.A. on one condition: their new home must have an attic. Lover boy is sent ahead by his mommy. In L.A. the marriage starts to deteriorate and one night Sanhuber hears a fight, fears for Dolly's life, runs down the stairs and shoots the husband. The lovers make it look like a robbery and the police does not suspect anything. The wealthy widow buys herself a new house - with a spacious attic. Talk about getting into a rut. The real reason according to Sanhuber's testimony after they got caught was that their relationship over time had slowly drifted from being lovers into one of dominance and submission.
I'm all in favour of being with the one you love, whenever you can, but hiding in the attic for decades?
Source: Atlas Obscura
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