The Unsolved Mysterious Case Of Peter Bergmann

2021-08-13 20:50:09 Written by Katherine

Friday 12th June -

 

This story starts up in Derry Ireland, on Friday the 12th of June 2009. The day the world was introduced to Peter Bergmann a tall thin grey-haired man with a Germanic accent, where he boarded the mid-afternoon bus from Derry to Sligo. Upon arrival in Sligo, he hailed a Taxi, yet he had no real destination in mind except for a 'cheap place to stay.

 

The Driver brought him to the Cruisin Lan guest house at first, but upon arrival, they found it was booked out and full for the following few days. Later, the driver brought him to Sligo City Hotel, which after paying with cash would become his home for the remainder of his life.

It is here where he wrote the name Peter Bergmann into the Hotels register, and provided this address Ainstettersn 15, 4472, Vienna. Which was based in Austria.

 

Saturday 13th June -

 

On Saturday the 13th of June, Peter Bergmann would leave the Sligo City Hotel on many occasions to unknown destinations. 13 of these times he would bring with him a full purple plastic carrier bag, yet would always return to the hotel after the bag had been emptied. We do know on one of these trips his destination was the nearest post office, where he bought approx 8-10 82cent stamps. These stamps at the time would allow Bergmann to send letters anyway in the world, thus posting nearly 8 or 10 letters.

 

Saturday 14th June -

 

Sunday would be the last night of Peter Bergmann's stay in the Sligo City hotel. Bringing a map with him Bergmann struck up a conversation with a Local taxi man (Gerard Higgins), Bergmann expressed his wish to find a quiet place to swim. Higgins Then advised Bergmann that Rosses point was what he was looking for, as it was a beautiful sandy and quiet beach with dramatic views. Bergmann agreed, on the journey to the Beach Bergmann told Higgins that - once again - he was from Austria

 

Upon arrival at the beach, Bergmann stepped out of the Taxi and examined the area. Higgins described him as content with his choice of Beach. But rather than swim he instantly took the same taxi back with to Sligo, where he settled into another evening alone.

 

Monday the 15th of June -

 

On his final day alive, Bergmann requested a late checkout from the Sligo City Hotel which he was granted. He made one final trip with his purple bag, and again returned with it emptied. Just after 1p.m, Bergmann checked out of the hotel carrying with him three bags; a Holdall bag, a computer bag, and a purple plastic bag. On route to the local bus station, Bergmann disposed of his holdall bag somewhere in the vicinity. Once at the bus station, Bergmann sat down in the coffee shop and wrote notes on a piece of paper, and disposed of it in a nearby bin. Bergmann boarded the bus to Rosses point, asking for just a one-way ticket.

Upon arrival at the beach, Bergmann was seen many times by many different people. They described him as notably overdressed for the bead was carrying a bag. The last sighting of Bermann was at 11:50 pm where he was described as walking alongside the edge of an incoming ocean, as high tide was to arrive within the hour.

 

Tuesday, June 16th -

 

At 8 am on June 16th Bergmann was found deceased on the Beach, specifically a beach near the ominously named Deadman's Point which is a part of the larger Rosses point. Police also found a neatly stacked pile of clothes on the beach that matched the description of what Bergmann had been wearing.

 

The Autopsy revealed that Bergmann had not died of an asaltwaterdrowninggggng. Yet the cause of death was acute cardiac arrest, essentially a heart attack. Interestingly Bergmann had terminal prostate cancer, so advanced that the coroner reported he had weeks at most to live and would have been in immense pain. The coroner also noted there were no signs of foul play.

 

It was in these very early stages of the inquiry that police knew something abnormal about this case: Peter Bergmann was an alias, Peter Bergmann never existed.

 

The Investigation:

 

The detectives followed up on every lead, starting with the address in Austria which Bergmann provided earlier: Ainstettersn 15, 4472, Vienna, Austria. This address proved to be a dead-end, the address did not exist for many years as it was a vacant lot.

 

The purple plastic bag from earlier was then considered. The contents of that bag may have provided some clues to his identity or shed some extra light and context to the case. However despite being caught on CCTV within buildings and throughout his day, Bergmann managed to evade all CCTV when disposing of the contents of this bag, and due to this, they were never found.

 

Another piece of proof that was considered where the previously mentioned stamps which could lead to someone, anyone who could identify him. Yet the detectives were unable to trace these letters which were sent using these stamps, ending this line of inquiry.

 

Similar to the plastic bags, the contents of the Holdall bag could also provide some leads however it was also never found. The site of disposal was never located for the same reasons the contents of the purple bags were never found; Bergmann managed to evade all CCTV in the region during the disposal of the bag. The note Bergmann wrote and disposed of was never found due to the time difference between the collection of the trash and the Detectives following this line of investigation.

Lastly, investigators considered the clothes on the beach but found that all markings or tags which may have had his real name written on them had been removed closing yet another line of investigation. Very similar to a certain 'Somerton Man'

 

The Police did check internationally, but no one missing was ever reported under the name Peter Bergmann or with his physical description. Leaving detectives completely stumped.

 

NOTES: There is some online debate surrounding whether the police did check internationally, with journalists claiming that details of the case were not put forward to Interpol or Austrian authorities. However Irish references and Irish police do insist that they contacted Austrian authorities directly. Link HERE for further details.

 

Theories:

 

Starting with the bags, and looking into the implications of him managing to avoid detection by CCTV when disposing of all his property. Sligo City is crammed with CCTV, and in fact, Bergmann is seen on camera on many occasions except when disposing of his property. Showing us that he went to great extents to make sure detectives could not locate his belongings, and investigators themselves doubted that he had some kind of training, whether it be ex-military, ex-police or ex-intelligence to pull this feat off.

 

This all being said there is no proof to say his line of work is it military or intelligence led to his eventual demise. Furthermore, the contents of the bags will never be known, whether they were some form of contraband and damming materials or just the basic belongings of an old dying man will never truly be known.

 

The letters also prove that someone knows who Bergmann was, someone received those letters and is either unaware of his eventuality or is choosing not to come forward with the information they hold or which is included in those letters. It could also be possible that the letters he sent wouldn't have had any indication of who sent them or if they were even personal eg. unknown donations to a charity of choice.

 

It is also suspected that Bergmann did not intend his body to wash back up on shore yet to be taken out to sea. Which would have prevented an inquiry from happening in the first place.

 

More odd theories have ranged far and wide. One such bizarre theory claims that Bergmann was a child of the Nazi leader Martin Bormann who adopted the name Bergmann after the war. Which would have been done to protect his family. However, this theory is weak at best and is considered a stretch when taking into account that Bergmann is one of the 100 most common surnames in German-Speaking countries.

However, all signs point to one specific theory; Bergmann knew he was dying and wanted to go out on his s. The before-mentioned terminal prostate cancer was so developed, Bergmann must have known of it due to the immense pain. Peter Bergmann then traveled to Sligo either due to a personal connection to the place, knew of the Sligos beauty, or for no particular reason at all. It was then here -in Sligo- where he chose to end his existence on his terms. Yet this theory doesn’t explain why Bergmann went to such great lengths to hide his identity.

 

The only other aspect which does not sit right with me is the cause of Death. Bergmann died of acute cardiac arrest, not saltwater drowning. Probably the heart attack was induced by the strenuous situation of committing suicide or by prostate cancer. Or probably could it have been induced by an external force.

 

This being one of the few things we do know, that Bergmann went to great lengths to obscure his true identity. And possibly due to this you might wonder if we should respect his final wish; to be forgotten and unknown. The greatest mystery of this case is WHY Bergmann hid his identity, whether it was due to nefarious or honest reasons we may never know. Finally, we do know one more thing for certain; that the man Peter Bergmann never existed.