“All My Secrets I Submit to the Fire” - Metod Trobec, Lover and Killer

Script for Humble Mysteries, episode 12

Sep 05, 2024

In the summer of 1979, Hermann Lampenau, a German tourist, was traveling through Slovenia. Sometime in late July while visiting Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, he was looking for a place to stay and ran into a Slovenian man who told him he had a place for him. Hermann thought himself lucky, and arranged with the man to take him where he needed to go after they'd both finished eating. Hermann put his suitcase into the man’s car and they both went to eat at the pub named “Pri Cirmanu” in Medno.

At one point, the Slovenian man got up, and told Hermann that he had to go make a phone call to his sister. The man walked out, and drove away in his car, Hermann’s suitcase in tow.

When Hermann saw that the man he met and drove away with his suitcase was not coming back, he knew that he had been robbed. He spent the next few days looking for the man who stole his suitcase, and finally, against all odds, on August 5th 1979, he saw him eating in the restaurant at the bus station in the city of Kranj in Slovenia. Hermann confronted him, and the man told him that he would return his suitcase, and invited him to come with him to his home to get it. Hermann, about to be fooled by the same man the second time, got into his car hoping that he would soon be getting his suitcase back.

But the man, of course, had other plans. He stopped his vehicle in a wooded area outside of Kranj, and beat Hermann, stole his wallet that contained German Marks, about 1900 Dinars, and all of Hermann’s personal documents. He was badly injured, his clavicle was broken and he had multiple injuries on his face, but Hermann somehow managed to memorize the license plates of the car the man was driving. Nearby, a man was foraging for mushrooms and saw the entire incident. After the man drove away, the forager helped Hermann get to the phone booth and together they called the police and reported the robbery and the assault.

That same day, the police located and arrested the man named Metod Trobec, who was the owner of the vehicle.

Following Metod’s arrest, the police located his home and conducted a search for Hermann’s suitcase. They found the suitcase, but they also found something a lot more unexpected, dark and sinister.

Please join me as we explore the life and downfall of one of the most notorious serial killers in former Yugoslavia, Metod Trobec.

Before we dive into the case, allow me to address my long absence. First of all, I apologize for a longer break. This was something I originally planned to do, I felt like I needed a bit of a break, but then it sort of snowballed into a longer pause. I promised myself when I was getting into this that I will take breaks when I need them, so that was fine, but then life went on and my schedule was just busted. I’m sure you know how difficult it can be to get something going once you’ve lost momentum. So I’ve decided not to take these longer breaks again, at least not in the near future, but I will switch to posting once every two weeks, or once every 10 days for now.

Also, the case I was working on is my first case in which I really had to dig into the archives, and the sources were in Slovenian, which is not my first language, so researching took me a lot longer than usual, and I think I was a bit unprepared for that. But you live, and you learn, and I have definitely learned to give myself a bit more prep time for cases like this.

On top of all of that, I can share with you now that my husband and I bought a house! We have been renters ever since we started living together and got married, so buying a home was a big dream of ours. I am so happy that we have found a beautiful home to raise our kids in, and to grow old in, and we were moving for most of July and through the beginning of August so my mind and body was fully dedicated to that.

But all of that said, friends, I have only one thing to add, and that is - I hope you’re all well, I hope you have been well and I hope you’re ready to dive into some true crime with me today.

In June 1948, when most of Europe was still recovering from the devastating effects of World War II, in a small Slovenian village, Marija Trobec gave birth to twins - a boy and a girl. She named them Metod and Cirila, after the Byzantine Christian missionaries who evangelized the Slavic nations. Marija was a farmer and a single mother, and the twins’ father was never known. She also had two older children from previous relationships. Her family was given a piece of land during the land reform, and that’s where the Trobec family built a home for themselves.

Metod’s childhood was marked by developmental delays, at least if his mother’s account of his childhood is to be trusted. According to her, Metod only started walking when he was 4 and speaking when he was 5, which is very late in my own, non-expert humble opinion. He most likely started school at the age of 7, which was normal for this region, but his education was difficult, and after failing the 7th grade, Metod never went back for another year to finish elementary school.

His youth and adolescence were marked by crimes and mischief, and some villagers claimed that he burned down several haystacks in the village when he was 14, 15 or 16. When he was 18, Metod started his compulsory military service and once he was finished in 1971, he moved to West Germany in search of employment and a better salary. He found a job in a car factory, which also allowed him to become an apprentice auto mechanic.

During his stay in West Germany, his mother purchased a homestead in Dolenja Vas. According to her, she sold her cattle to be able to afford this property, but it is also very likely that Metod financially helped her because he was earning a decent salary in West Germany. Metod stayed in West Germany until 1974, when he moved back to Slovenia to serve his one year prison sentence. You see, sometime during that year, Metod rented a car in West Germany and drove it to Dolenja Vas, basically stealing the car. However, he didn’t steal the car to use it. He hid it, and then reported it to the police to be able to collect the reward. Obviously, he was caught and sentenced to one year in prison. During his stay in prison, the assigned prison psychiatrist noticed some concerning patterns and requested that Metod be transferred to a psychiatric clinic in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.

During his stay at the clinic, Metod was diagnosed with psychosis, Ganser’s Syndrome and a psychopathic personality. He was pretending to be a mental patient in prison, and that was also concluded during his treatment at the clinic. Metod visited the clinic twice during his one year prison sentence, and during each of those hospitalizations, he underwent electroconvulsive therapy, or electroshock therapy. This kind of therapy is used in psychiatry for treating various mental disorders such as major depressive disorder, mania and schizophrenia. Obviously, nowadays, this kind of therapy is done in extremely controlled conditions, it’s not just plugging someone into an electrical outlet, so the damage and the adverse effects are minimal. But I don’t know to what extent that was present in the 1970’s, because Metod based a lot of his defense later on on these electric shocks he received and the consequences he was left with because of them.

In any case, Metod displayed a variety of concerning behaviors while at the clinic, including threatening to kill his mother, but he later downplayed all of these behaviors with bizarre and banal explanations.

After his release from prison, Metod met a woman who was 21 years older than him, named Štefka Kvas. They got married and started living in Dolenja Vas, at the property owned by Metod’s mother, who also lived there. This marriage was dysfunctional and unhappy in every possible way. Štefka later testified against Metod during one of his trials and claimed that he was cold to her, rude, and sexually abusive. She also claimed that it was getting increasingly difficult to live with him due to his unhealthy attachment to his mother, and the fact that he was treating their home as a warehouse or a storage unit where he brought and stored all the stolen goods from his thieving adventures.

Štefka and Metod separated after a year or two, and he ended up remarrying in 1978. This second marriage was even shorter, and his second wife left him after only 9 months.

Metod or his family also owned a property and a house in Spodnja Bela, a small village not far from their homestead. He lived at that property for a while, and would return there here and there. This property especially served as his warehouse for the stolen items he kept amassing.

In the late 1970’s Metod started working as a warehouse worker in the factory named “Metalka”. During his employment in Metalka, Metod stole various items. On one occasion he stole a small TV, two gramophones, speakers and a mixer by placing them on a cart and wheeling them out and into his car. Metod apparently had at least 7 workers helping him steal, and all of those items sooner or later ended up in his house in Spodnja Bela. But there were smaller, more personal items stored there, as well. And to obtain those, Metod would drive around in his car offering help to people he saw struggling with their luggage or walking home. He would offer them a ride, then take them to a secluded area where he’d beat them and rob them.

He also stole from people’s houses and holiday homes, cars, and so on.

So let’s now go back to 1979.

After Hermann Lampenau finally reported Metod Trobec for defrauding him, stealing from him and then beating him and robbing him, the police looked into his record and found a long history of crime. While Metod was in custody, the police conducted a search of his house in Spodnja Bela. There, they discovered a treasure trove of stolen items, those that Metod hadn’t been able to sell. They found multiple items stolen from the “Metalka'' factory. But the police’s interest peaked when they discovered multiple items that didn’t seem like anything someone would want to buy or sell. Those were personal items, most likely belonging to women - coats, trench coats, umbrellas, purses, keys, pocket mirrors, and so on.

Upon talking to Metod’s neighbors, the police were told that he had not been living in Spodnja Bela for long, and that his former residence was his mother’s house in Gorenja Vas. So the police made their way there and decided to search that house as well. Now, this house had been sold to a new owner the previous year, but the new owner only used the upper floor of the house as his living quarters. The bottom floor had not yet been cleared of the junk Metod had brought home over the years, and the new owner did not think that was a pressing matter. The new owner also didn’t seem to mind that Metod still often visited and used the bottom floor of the house his mother used to own, because it was proven that Metod actually made several trips to the house in Gorenja Vas after the ownership was transferred from his mother to the new owner.

While searching the bottom floor of this house, the police found even more junk, items Metod had stolen from who knows where and who knows when. More personal items were found in this property. Female footwear, keys, clothes and personal documents and ID’s. These items didn’t match the collection of stolen items Metod had amassed, and again, the police found that very suspicious. Among Metod’s personal items, the investigators found a novel called “Lun and Exodus” in which a sentence was underlined. That sentence was: “All my secrets I submit to the fire.” The property also had an old brick bread oven, and inside the oven ashes, soot and debris were visible to the investigators. After scooping out the debris from the oven, the investigators were shocked to see that some of them looked like bone fragments, and then even more shocked to realize they were human bone fragments.

The bread oven in which Metod would burn his victims.

The search of Metod’s old property then intensified, and in the initial search, remnants of 3 human bodies were found.

When it came to identifying the remains, the police used a missing persons database, personal documents found on Metod’s property and personal items that didn’t match Metod’s collection of stolen items.

The first three identified victims were all women - Marjana Cankar, Ana Plevnik and Zorica Nikolić.

Photos of Metod Trobec and his first three identified victims.

Even though the police knew their identities, they had almost no information on how and when they got in contact with Metod Trobec and how their remains ended up in his bread oven.

The police then asked the public for help. The statement by the police said that even though they had a lot of data and information, they didn't have the connection and the glue that tied it all together. They asked the public to provide any information, however seemingly insignificant, about the missing women and about Metod Trobec. They were specifically asking for information regarding where the missing persons would spend their time, what vehicles they used, whether or not they used public transportation, and what the possible connection could be between them and Metod.

On top of that, the police were extremely interested in shedding light on the personality of Metod Trobec, in order to create a personality profile for him.

In the days following the discovery, the police were actively searching through the houses where Metod lived. The collection of stolen goods was described as almost like a warehouse. The rooms were so full of items, but there was no furniture. Eventually, when the items were taken out of the house, the police had to hire a cargo truck. Some of the other items were taken by the factory workers who actually came in with a list of stolen goods and recovered almost all of them from the house.

However, the police had no idea what to do with the rest of the items. They could not find the owners for almost anything. And the items included pretty much anything you could imagine, homeware, appliances, clothes, auto parts, watches, wallets, motorcycles, and so on. Just from looking at the items in the house and considering Metod’s age, the police came to a conclusion that he was stealing almost all the time every day. And it was obvious that he was stealing just for the sake of stealing. He would sell some items here and there, but most of them were just rotting away in his warehouse.

Once the public started coming out with their experiences with Metod, among the information that came to the police from the public were incidents such as the time when Metod impersonated a taxi driver, took in a female passenger, robbed her and left her in the middle of nowhere. Her purse, wallet, and some of her personal items, including her ID were later found in the house.

Another notable incident reported by a citizen was when Metod offered a ride to an elderly man who missed his bus. After giving him a ride, Metod demanded that the man pay him money. However, he didn't have the money on him. Metod then beat him up, threw him out of the car and took his watch.

The watch was engraved with a commemorative text, and that watch was also found in his house.

A collection of stolen personal items found in Metod Trobec’s house. Some items were used to identify victims.

Let’s now turn our attention to the victims of this twisted and evil man.

Vida Markovčič was 19. She was born in Gornja Brezovica to a single mother, but ended up growing up with her grandmother, her aunt and eventually she was moved to an orphanage. After leaving the orphanage, she moved in with her mother, however, that partnership wasn’t working out well. Vida would get physically assaulted by her mother, and eventually she escaped and went to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. She was described as a bit wild and all over the place. Her mother claims she was a sex worker, and that’s how she made her money, but in reality, it is unknown what Vida was doing and how she made a living.

Metod met Vida in the spring of 1976. He said they met in Ljubljana, where they shared drinks and chatted in a pub. Afterwards, Metod offered her a ride on his motorcycle, and they drove to his house in Dolenja Vas. Vida ended her young life in Metod’s house, leaving only a few clothing items behind which were enough to identify her and place her in that house.

Marijana Cankar was 53. She was retired, but because she lived alone, she was working as a cleaning lady cleaning other people’s homes, and businesses. Metod also met her in a pub in Ljubljana on March 25th 1977. Marijana was supposed to leave on a short trip the next day, but she never showed up for the chartered bus. She was dead by the next day, after Metod lured her into his house where he raped her, strangled her, and then burned her body. Before he killed her, he found out where Marjana worked, and then afterwards found the keys of one of the businesses she cleaned. He drove to Ljubljana, let himself into the restaurant using Marjana’s keys, and stole two calculators, two typewriters, a kettle, and two paper staplers. One of the typewriters was later found in the house of Metod’s sister.

Urška Brečko was 21 when she was reported missing on March 20th 1978. Her disappearance was reported in the media, and her family were actively looking for her. At the time, she worked as a kitchen assistant in a restaurant. Since Metod confessed to some things, he also made a statement that a woman named Urška did visit his house once. It wasn’t until keys were found in Metod’s house, among which was a key to the restaurant where Urška used to work, that the authorities started suspecting that she as well met her tragic end there on Metod’s property. She met him at a restaurant, already drunk. That day, she was supposed to pick up her mother’s pension, but the post office worker refused to give her the money because she was intoxicated. She missed her train, and then she missed the bus. She then went to the restaurant where Metod noticed her, talked to her and offered her a place to stay for the night. She was never seen again.

Ana Plevnik was 43. She was a widow who inherited her husband’s wealth and was trying to ease her loneliness with alcohol. She met Metod in April 1978. She must have thought he was a kind man, he most likely spoke to her insecurities and felt like he understood where she was coming from and what she was going through. Somehow, that was enough to get her to come home with Metod. Only her ID was left after her body was burned in the bread oven.

His last known victim was Zorica Nikolić. She was 32, and unlike the other women we mentioned, she was actually an acquaintance of Metod’s. They’d known each other for a few months. Zorica had changed jobs a lot during her life, even working for a while in the same factory as Metod. On November 17th 1978, she and Metod met at a restaurant, then later went together to a bar. Trobec confessed that they ended up making love in his kitchen, where he strangled her during the sexual act. Her keys were later found in Metod’s house, her coat was found in the possession of Metod’s sister. Zorica was also the only victim who was identified through her dental records after the investigators found a piece of her mandible in the oven.

Apart from them all being women, there is another interesting common denominator among Metod’s victims. All of them were women who didn’t really have anyone. As I mentioned earlier, only Urška Brečko was immediately reported missing. The rest were in the missing persons database, but no one was really looking for them. They were women who struggled with a lot of issues, whether that was mental health, poverty, alcoholism or other insecurities. Metod had an impeccable eye for a specific type, the type that was most likely flattered by the male attention, felt safe because of his fake kindness, and his inexplicable interest in them.

Before he was tried for the murders, Metod stood trial for his assault and robbery of Hermann Lampenau. This trial was a very good intro into the bigger trials that unveiled a lot of the information that we know about this case.

But before we get into that, let's talk about his second stay at a psychiatric institution. If you recall, Metod was hospitalized and treated in a psychiatric clinic back in 1974. After his arrest in 1979, he was again put under supervision at a hospital in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. This hospitalization was part of the investigation into Metod and his mental state. The psychiatrists came to the conclusion that Metod had psychopathic tendencies, but that he was fully aware of his actions and had no memory lapses. It was concluded that the level of premeditation, callousness and calculation points to the fact that he was operating at full mental capacity and that he was fully aware of what he was doing.

While at the hospital, Metod again received electroconvulsive therapy, or electro shocks. I was able to find information that this therapy was provided because of his lack of cooperation with the staff, however, I am not fully certain that that would warrant such therapy. In any case, this was the second time he was treated with electroconvulsive therapy.

During his trial that was going on in September 1980, Metod stated that he didn't remember anything. He claimed that he had no memory of ever meeting Lampenau or anything that had anything to do with him and the case. Metod and his defense team attributed this memory loss to the electroconvulsive therapy that he received earlier that year and also in 1974. Their claim was also that the treatment significantly changed his personality and his mental state.

Despite his defense, Metod was found guilty on three charges. He was sentenced to six years in prison for robbery, one year for physical assault, and two years for grand theft. The court put together those sentences and sent him away for eight years in total.

Metod was then sent to jail to await his trial for murders.

After his arrest in August of 1979, the police investigation found evidence of two more murders in connection to Metod Trobec. These discoveries were a result of the public providing information to the police and aiding the investigation. Eventually, two more disappearances were connected to Metod Trobec - those of Vida Markovčič and Urška Brečko.

After their personal items were discovered in the pile of stolen goods in Metod’s house, and their relatives identified them as belonging to the two missing women, the manure pit on the property was dug out and their remains were found.

Now, before we go into the details of the trial, it’s important to mention that Metod was thoroughly interrogated during the investigation and he actually confessed to sexually assaulting the women who came with him to his property, and then murdering them either during the sexual act, or afterwards. That’s actually how we know what happened to his victims. He said he would strangle the women, dismember them, and then burn their bodies in the bread oven. He would then take the ashes and the bone fragments and dispose of them next to the barn in the manure pit. Metod showed the investigators where they would find the ashes. He also provided details for each of the women he murdered, and more details on his criminal activities that had to do with robberies, theft and various assaults. However, as you will soon hear, when the trial started and Metod was on the stand to answer for these crimes, he had a different story.

Finally, on October 30th 1980, the trial for these five murders began. Even though Metod did give information on the murders, and had obvious guilty knowledge, during the trial he chose not to provide any answers. His chosen defense was to respond to accusations with: “Maybe. Maybe I did it. Maybe I didn’t. It is possible that I did it, it is also possible that I didn’t do it.”

He refused to admit involvement in any of the five murders that he was being accused of.

When asked if he remembered showing the investigators around the property, showing them the bread oven and the places where he disposed of the ashes, he again said that he didn’t remember, and that it was possible that he did that.

His memory seemed to return when he was asked about the transfer of ownership of the said property and he knew when his mother had sold it. He was also very keen to answer questions about his medical history, so he said he felt better than 3 or 4 years earlier, and that he was at the time experiencing issues with his kidneys and his duodenum.

The reporter who was following the trial reported how difficult it was for him to visually connect Metod to things he was accused of. He said he looked like just a normal guy, a bit shorter and stockier, clean shaven and decently well looking. He wrote that, in his opinion, Metod would have no problem asking a lady for a dance or a date.

Trobec at his trial where he refused to answer questions.

During the trial, a psychiatrist, doctor Zlatko Vinek testified that Metod was able to understand his own actions. However, Metod and his attorney seemed to have chosen their defense during his previous trial, and they stuck to it again. Metod was said to have repeated the following statement multiple times: “Maybe I did it. If I did it, I don’t know that I did it. I am a ruined person, I don’t know if this is me. It may be me, it may also not be me. My health, my spirit and my youth have been destroyed by psychiatrists and electroshocks.”

During the trial, many witnesses came forward to speak about the circumstances surrounding Metod Trobec and the disappearances of his victims. Very early into the trial, after giving the statement that he might have done the crimes that he was charged with, Metod informed the court that he will not be responding to any further questions. The last statement he gave was that his life wasn’t easy, and from there, the story was told through the evidence and witness testimonies.

Because Metod based so much of his defense on the fact that he received electroconvulsive therapy, and the allegation that that somehow changed his entire personality, one of the biggest testimonies during the trial was the testimony of psychiatrists. Doctor Bregant testified that Metod was in a state of psychosis known as prison psychosis, or more notably known as Ganser Syndrome. This is the type of dissociative reaction to an intolerable mental situation. He explained that a person's subconscious mind tries to escape the situation, and the result is a psychosis which can be observed in the patient giving nonsensical answers to simple questions, pretending to be mentally or physically unwell or distorted communication. Multiple doctors also testified about electroconvulsive therapy and assured the court that there was no way Metod could have suffered such intense consequences. These testimonies made Metod so angry he exclaimed in court that he would sue the psychiatrists.

Among many witnesses, Marija Trobec, Metod’s mother, testified as well.

After over 2 weeks, the trial concluded with both the prosecution and the defense bringing forward their closing arguments. The prosecution asked the court to find Metod guilty and sentence him to death. The defense, however, tried to explain how each of the victims inexplicably died on Metod’s property of natural causes. According to them, Vida Markovčič died from a drug overdose, Marijana Cankar suffered an epileptic seizure, Urška Brečko choked on food, Ana Plevnik died in a state of delirium, and Zorica Nikolić took her own life. Apparently, Metod was so panicked by each of these deaths that he did the only thing he could think of - dismember the bodies and burn them.

The defense, of course, asked for Metod to be acquitted.

I think it’s worth reminding ourselves here that Metod had a completely different story for each of these deaths during the investigation, and interestingly, he was a lot more involved in that version.

On November 25th 1980, Metod was found guilty and sentenced to death.

The Supreme Court later overturned this sentence, because the court thought that not enough attention was given to the fact that there were cases of schizophrenia in Metod’s immediate family.

His second trial started in September 1982, and during this trial, Metod and his defense lawyer went for the same tactic - complete silence and refusal to answer any questions. A lot of the same evidence was brought forward during this trial, as well as the majority of the witnesses. Interestingly, his first wife testified during this trial. The second trial also concluded with a guilty verdict, and another death penalty.

This was again appealed by Trobec and his defense team, and the Supreme Court lowered his sentence to 20 years in prison.

In 1984, when Metod was already serving his sentence, the investigators found another ID. This ID belonged to a woman named Olga Pajić who disappeared on August 9th 1975. Metod confessed to killing this woman, and he was indicted, but this case, sadly, never went to trial.

During his imprisonment, Metod decided to show just how undeserving he was of the lowered sentence he received by the Supreme Court. He stabbed a man in 1988, then stabbed another one in 1990. Both survived Metod’s attacks. In 1992, he found himself a new victim - a fellow inmate, and stabbed him 10 times.

For these three attacks, Metod earned himself 15 more years being added to his 20 year sentence. After his lawyer tried to get this overturned, the Supreme court, thankfully, upheld the sentence.

Metod was left to rot in prison, still regularly visited by his twin sister, and their mother. Eventually, his mother was moved to a care home where she died, and his sister became so ill she couldn’t visit him anymore.

Even though Metod refused any medical checkups, he was informed by medical staff that some of the symptoms he was experiencing could be pointing to prostate cancer.

Trobec in his later years during one of the many appearances in court.

On May 30th 2006, Metod was found dead in his cell, having taken his own life. He never left any notes, but it is believed that his mother’s death, his sister’s illness and his own symptoms led him to it.

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I have to say that, even though I like true crime, I have never been particularly interested in serial killers. That level of pathology usually confuses me, and it’s not something that I find interesting. But after learning about Metod Trobec, I really felt like this story was worth telling. A lot of us probably have ideas of how serial killers behave, what they look like and we maybe even think that we would be able to recognize them. This case is a cruel reminder that the reason so many of them are able to commit such heinous crimes is the fact that they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are master manipulators, deceivers, and apparently, good actors.

It is very sad to think just how little human life meant to Metod, how easily the decision to murder was made and how quickly he was ready for another victim. Metod preyed on unsuspecting, vulnerable women, he toyed with their lives as if they were expendable, stabbed inmates for simple misunderstandings, and yet, interestingly, the last life he took was his own.