Swiss town in shock as football coach confesses to cold-blooded murders

A small Swiss town was in shock on Sunday after discovering a youth football coach has confessed to the cold-blooded murders of four people in their home. Residents of Rupperswil near Zurich say they cannot believe that the 33-year-old, named only as Thomas N, could have been involved in the killings in December last year. Roland Wenger, a spokesman for the FC Sarmenstorf soccer club where the suspect had been a coach, said members were horrified by the news. Rupperswil mayor Rudolf Hediger said there was relief at the arrest but also “a certain amount of shame and dismay that it was really a member of our village community”.

Nobody in the club would have thought Thomas would be capable of this, he was always decent.

Roland Wenger, FC Sarmenstorf

Investigators say the suspect tricked his way into Carla Schauer’s home where he forced her to bind and gang her two teenage sons, aged 13 and 19, and the latter’s 21-year-old girlfriend. He then took her to withdraw about 11,000 Swiss francs (£7,600) from a bank machine but was tied up again when she returned. Then, he reportedly raped the younger son, before cutting the throats of all four and setting fire to the house. Prosecutors say the suspect has made a “comprehensive confession” and they have matched his DNA and fingerprints to the crime scene.

Based on yesterday’s search of the home, further investigations and questioning, we have to assume that the perpetrator had concrete plans for similar crimes.

Police chief Markus Gisin

rupperswil