Axel Petermann

Axel Petermann (born 1952) is a German criminalist and author. He worked for the criminal police for more than 35 years, heading a homicide unit in Bremen and, from 2000 until his retirement in 2014, the Operative Fallanalyse unit he helped establish. He investigated more than 1,000 cases involving violent or unnatural deaths. As a lecturer in criminalistics, he taught at several universities and advised television productions, including various »Tatort« formats. Petermann published nonfiction books about criminal cases and offender psychology, including »Auf der Spur des Bösen«, »Im Angesicht des Bösen« and »Der Profiler«, several of which became bestsellers. After his active investigative career, he interviewed convicted offenders about the motives behind their crimes.