Secret double life

How bank robber “Pinocchio” died in a hail of bullets

The end of an escape: "Pinocchio", who had previously robbed a Raiffeisen bank in Linz, crashes his moped and hides from the police in a side street. There he is shot dead.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Altarchiv-Kriegel, Christian Koller)

"Pinocchio" was always one step ahead of the police. The man from Graz committed six bank robberies in his home town and one in Vienna - until he died in a hail of police bullets during a crime in Linz. Only then did the identity of the long-sought robber become known: He had been a dazzling businessman. His pregnant wife, a politician, had no idea of his double life.

Police sirens, flashing blue lights, gunshots: On May 29, 2000, there was a big showdown between a bank robber and the police in Linz. At around 4 p.m., the previously unknown man, masked with a scarf, stormed Raika Keferfeld, pressed a gun to a cashier's temple and then snatched the money she had demanded: schilling notes, US dollars, Slovenian tolars and Hungarian forints. He then sprinted out of the bank branch and fled on a stolen moped.