1992: Schlaepfer Farm Murders
May 19, 2020
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Today in New Zealand history, 20 May, 1992, the Schlaepfer Farm Murders occurred. The place was Paerata, just north of north of Pukekohe, but I prefer to refer to the place by its fading historical name: HelvetiaHelvetia, est 1884, took the ancient name of Switzerland, equivalent of our ‘Britainia’ or ‘Zealandia’. 4000 acres “of virgin land” had been purchased, right along the railway line to Auckland. Here the yodelling Swiss farmed their dairy, poultry, and grapes.- 1884: Eulogy for Helvetia
The Schlaepher dynasty came to a horrible bloody jolt; Grandfather Brian Schlaepfer murdered his 3 sons, grandson, his own wife, and himself. Nobody knows for sure why these once prosperous descendants of Swiss colonists exited New Zealand’s story. Police found that Brian left behind a “suicide note” but have never shared it.
“…when Police were asked about a note written by Brian found at the property. The police would not divulge it’s content but when asked if it was a suicide note, the police replied with “It could have taken that form”.- True Crime NZ
Schlaepher belonged to the Silent Generation, as did murderers Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme. Silents tend to be repressed, kept from claiming their place in the world of reality and finding it instead in fantasy worlds- in art. Parker and Hulme violently lashed out at their parent’s generation whereas Schlaepher bided his time, holding in life’s hurt (aka depression,) before finally pouring it out on Generation Boomer and Generation X.
“The Silent Generation. A generation of Kiwis traumatised by events they had been unable to control or avoid; A told-what-to-do generation.”“In Fourth World they were loved and respected, the people were just and good and truthful.”- 1954: Fourth World“Still on the phone, nine year old, Linda Schlaepfer talked through the events from her perspective to Constable Jeff Stuck, she said that her grandfather had “been a bit weird lately”.- True Crime NZ
Silent Brian’s heritage was more than simply that of a New Zealand farmer. His family was once great, torch bearers for a special Swiss ethnic clan with a strong identity of who they were. They were an important part of a community with strong in-group ties, they had a road named after them. But, now, what did any of that matter in the 1990s? Brian was part of a dying breed that he probably never felt fully included in and which Boomers would consider disposable trash.
When Brian was born, 1928, it coincided with the end of our culture’s on-again-off-again love of ostrich feathers in fashion. Helvetia, and the Schlaepher family in particular, were one of the New Zealand centres of the feather industry. The Schlaephers were industrious, special, exotic, wealthy, even a tourist destination. They stood out in their community. They owned a car in the 1920s…One of the Helvetia families associated with Patumahoe were the Schlaepfer’s. Pictured [above] is the family in their first car, a 1925 Austin Seven in the late 1920s.-Patumahoe History and Memories; Facebook 2016
Brian, born in 1928, entered a family that was falling or fallen. The days of the ostrich and glory were behind them, Brian was born too late to be part of it. His birth was probably even viewed as a marker for the end of the great era. Perhaps his own mother associated her son’s birth with the end of the good old days and the start of bad times? Now came The Slump, New Zealand’s Great Depression, which was Brian’s childhood. There was a lot of hurt and for a disaffected youth to process but I bet he didn’t do it in a healthy way; Instead the man alone walks on with a chip on his shoulder.
“There were rumours around town that Brian was resentful about them changing the farm from pasture into crops. These domestic conflicts led Brian to sink lower and lower into an abyss of depression…”- True Crime NZ
Brian’s Boomer kids stepping up and making the decisions for the family and farm would have triggered the rage he had been suppressing all his life. Perhaps it was enough in itself to lead to murder. I can’t help speculating that his parents, mother in particular, demanded that Brian sacrifice his own life and self-expression in the name of the Schlaepher family dynasty. If so, the act of liberating rage to break free from the Impossible Situation of a lifetime would be to murder everyone in the family.
Schlaepher’s wife was probably the tipping point, triggering the bursting of a dam of rage, for which she was stabbed in the heart: Victim #1. Brian’s final thoughts before death were probably something like “See that, Mutter, see that Vater? They’re all dead. There is no family now. You have no power over me.”
Post syndicated from http://ahnz.anarkiwi.co.nz/1992-schlaepfer-farm-murders/.
