Criminal investigations are often confused by irrelevant clues and evidence.

We frequently see this effect in very serious crimes, such as homicides.

We can also see how this effect operates in historical examples, such as the death of Adolf Hitler.

The Weird Homicide Fairy Is the protagonist of a running joke shared among some friends in the criminal investigation community. She personifies the fact that in any criminal investigation, you always encounter loose ends and intrusive bits of evidence which actually have nothing to do with the crime in question. Subjectively, it often appears that the sheer number of irrelevant clues is greatest in the most serious cases, such as homicide.

The Weird Homicide Fairy, the imaginary personification of this phenomenon, is conceptualized in traditional magical fairy garb; but instead of a magic wand, she carries a bazooka, with which she blasts irrelevant evidence in all directions at any serious crime scene. Part of the joke involves coming up with the wildest things you can think of, to be fired from her magic bazooka: ancient Roman weapons, bizarre evidence of vanished celebrities, dead aardvarks, slabs of meatloaf—the whole concept is pretty silly, of course, but this kind of running joke provides some comic relief from the harsh realities of criminal investigation.

But if it's a joke, why bring it up at all?

The phenomenon characterized by the Weird Homicide Fairy is entirely real; bizarre and irrelevant clues often derail criminal investigations (e.g., Sharps, 2024). For example, in a homicide case on which I worked many years ago, the presence at the crime scene of a CO2 pellet pistol put investigators on the wrong track to the point that the wrong suspect was actually arrested. The pellet gun turned out to be completely unconnected to the crime.

This brings us to the point at which the paths of the Weird Homicide Fairy and the dictator Adolph Hitler intersect.

Adolf Hitler and his new wife Eva Braun committed suicide in his underground bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945. The city, under heavy attack by the Soviet army, was soon to be conquered, and Hitler's Nazi henchmen, to prevent the capture of the corpses, immolated the bodies with great efficiency and an awful lot of gasoline. This is the straightforward history of what actually happened (e.g., Toland, 1976).

Yet, according to several books and TV “documentaries,” this is a false account, and probably part of a conspiracy theory. There are well-publicized claims that Hitler actually survived the war.

Actually, the whole debate is somewhat academic. If Hitler had survived, he’d be coming up on the age of 137 today, either dead or a bit overaged to be charging around fomenting Nazi mayhem.

However, people really care about this. Hitler, say some authors and television producers, actually survived the Russian invasion and took refuge in Argentina. It's difficult to understand why anybody would want to believe that the maniacal Fuhrer survived the war to run around South America, presumably recruiting for some kind of Fourth Reich, but apparently there are people who do.

But odd motivations aside, is there any evidence of Hitler's survival?

Enter the Weird Homicide Fairy.

Hitler, say some, sent his personal possessions away from the bunker, obviously intending to be reunited with them later. However, this is simply wrong. Hitler actually sent out couriers with some official documents, including his will. Technically, a will is a personal possession, but having one delivered is hardly an optimistic act. The story of Hitler's possessions may never die, but the fact is that the Fuhrer’s toothbrush, razor, and spare underwear stayed right there in the bunker with him.

But Hitler could have escaped to Tempelhof Airport through the tunnels under Berlin, say some. Well, there are of course utility tunnels under Berlin, and some of them connect to utility tunnels under the airport; but there’s not a shred of evidence that Hitler actually burrowed through any of them.

But Hitler could have escaped by air! Pilot Hanna Reitsch flew one of Hitler’s generals in and out of an adjacent airport, and an improvised airstrip, even as the Russians were closing in!

True. However, people fly in and out of airports all the time, and if they haven't got an airport, they may do the same thing with an airstrip. The problem here is that Hitler doesn't appear to have been on any of the relevant airplanes.

Pieces of Hitler's head, including some teeth, are held today in Russia. However, a piece of skull that was thought to be Hitler’s has turned out not to be! Aha! What’s going on?

If a Russian soldier were ordered to find parts of the defunct dictator, but couldn’t find any since they’d all been set on fire, would he just go home and confess his failure to the maniacally murderous Joseph Stalin, or would he find a piece of a different casualty, of which there were many in Berlin at the time, and head home with the spurious evidence? Given Stalins's reputation for homicidal rages, most people would probably choose Option Number 2.

But there is Argentinian evidence that postwar Nazis were living in buildings there! And Nazi coins have been found in the vicinities of those buildings!

Well, the “ratlines” from Europe to Argentina allowed a number of ranking Nazis to escape the conquest of Germany, and once they got to Argentina, they had to live someplace; the usual choice was buildings. And you’d expect Nazis to have a few Nazi coins kicking around, wouldn’t you? The trick would be to prove that Hitler had actually dropped a few of the things himself.

Once again, there's no actual evidence at all.

But when you put all these clues together—well, you’ve still got absolutely nothing. Irrelevant “clues” and information, especially in aggregate, may appear suggestive—but direct connections are what is needed, and often there simply aren’t any. Human psychology fills in the relevant gaps, and frequently not in an accurate way.

In reality, Hitler died in 1945 in the bunker.

An understanding of these considerations is important. Similar considerations may prevent major misunderstandings in forensic situations, which range from politically incendiary historical events to criminal investigation in our modern world.

Sharps, M.J. 2024. The Forensic View: Investigative Psychology, Law Enforcement, Space Aliens, Exploration, and the Nature of Madness. Amazon.

Toland, J. 1976. Adolf Hitler. New York; Ballantine.

© Psychology Today