The profile of the author of the slaughter against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg is becoming clearer. Philipp F. murdered six members of his former community and killed the 7-month-old fetus of a seriously injured woman, before committing suicide.
Aged 35, he lived in a modest apartment in the west of the Hanseatic city according to the German press. He presents himself as a successful businessman on his personal website and on his LinkedIn account, which AFP was able to consult.
Management controller, author and preacher
He offered his consulting and general management services in “management control, finance and accounting”, for an exorbitant fee of 250,000 euros a day. A price justified by its ability to “generate added value of 2.5 million euros” for the companies advised, and by its “holistic” approach, taking into account “theology and law”.
His business site is full of references to the Bible and football, including the Liverpool club. He was also promoting a self-published book on Amazon: “The Truth About God, Jesus Christ, and Satan.” Its goal ? Enlighten in 292 pages “any person holding a management function in the fields of economy, science, politics and entertainment”.
In the book, which Amazon removed from its site, he writes that he has behind him “a personal journey to hell that lasted more than three years” and that there is a “superior heavenly government” with 101 million people. spiritual beings. The book presents the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine as divine punishments. He also develops a pro-Russian and misogynistic discourse there, according to Der Spiegel.
Questions about his psychiatric condition
According to his own information, Philipp F. was brought up in a “strict” evangelical family. Single, the entrepreneur had lost his last salaried job in 2020 and had proclaimed himself a financial advisor on his own since. The man legally had a gun with which he shot members of his former community.
The police had however been warned by an anonymous letter of his possible dangerousness in January. The visit of the police to his apartment had produced nothing, the police speaking of a “cooperative” attitude. The missive warned that he might be suffering from “a psychiatric illness”.
Following the tragedy, it is established that the former Witness “nurtured a rage against Jehovah’s Witnesses”. Some testimonies, according to the police, say that he was excluded from his community. And the daily Bild understands that this exclusion was decided after the publication of Philipp F’s book. Other testimonies affirm that he left the Witnesses of his own free will.