West Germany. The terrorists and far-left militants of the Red Army Faction (RAF), Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan Carl Raspe, were found dead in their cell in Stammheim prison. The first was killed by a gunshot to the back of the head, the second was found hanging from an electrical wire, and the third, found dying in his cell from a blow to the head, died the following day in hospital. It has been said that this was the German federal state’s “response” to the kidnapping of the president of the West German Federation of Industry, Hans Martin Schleyer (a former member of the SS), kidnapped a month earlier in Cologne during a bloody ambush by RAF militants, and who would be executed, in retaliation, the following day. In reality, the official theory, supported by several facts, is that all the RAF members incarcerated in Stammheim committed suicide. Their lawyer, Arndt Müller, had smuggled pistols into the prison. Andreas Baader and Jan-Carl Raspe shot themselves with these weapons, while Gudrun Ensslin hanged herself. Irmgard Müller attempted to kill herself with a knife but survived the serious wound. The suicides went unnoticed until the next morning. Doctors were rushed to the scene. Baader and Ensslin were already dead when they were found. Raspe was still alive and was taken to the hospital, where he died shortly thereafter. Möller recovered after being taken to the hospital.
