The Rupperswil case of the century The quadruple murder that shook Switzerland - a chronology
December 21 marks the 10th anniversary of the atrocity committed by Thomas N. - known as the quadruple murderer of Rupperswil. blue News takes a chronological look at his life, the crime and the time after the crime.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The Rupperswil case made waves, even beyond the country's borders. December 21 marks the 10th anniversary of the gruesome crime.
- Thomas N. killed four people. He sexually assaulted the younger son of the Schauer family. He then killed Carla Schauer, her two sons and the older son's girlfriend.
- To cover his tracks, N. set fire to the Schauers' house.
- After the crime, the police are working on the case when it becomes known that it was an act of violence and not an accident.
- N. was arrested in 2016. The trial in the canton of Aargau followed in 2018. N. has been in prison since 2018.
- Things get louder again in 2025. Thomas N. has managed to have the investigation into whether he can be treated resumed.
Please note: The following text describes criminal acts, violence against children and sexual violence.
1983 - 2013: Who is this man?
Thomas N. was born in 1983. From the outside, he looks like the perfect child: polite, smart, well-adjusted. His father - strict, achievement-oriented - is his role model. In contrast to him, his older brother is considered the black sheep at an early age. For Thomas N., one thing is clear: if you fail, you fall off the grid. So he hides his weaknesses - even as a first-grader, when others can read better.
Football became his passion early on. But it also became a fear zone because he felt attracted to other boys. At 13, he stops playing at the club. He fears that his feelings for other boys might be noticed. When his mother later asks him if he is gay, he denies it. Instead, he imitates his classmates and gets himself a girlfriend as a pretense. He functions well on the outside, but isolates himself on the inside.
This information about the perpetrator's childhood and youth emerges from the 2017 indictment and from a psychological report reported by Blick.
After school, he failed to meet expectations. He simulated back pain in the military and failed to get into medical school. Several aborted courses of study followed. He tells his parents about successes that never happened.
When his father died in 2011, it was one of the rare moments in which Thomas N. showed emotion, as described in an expert report. Afterwards, he takes care of his mother - and continues to lie to her. She believes her son is a doctoral student. Only the sister-in-law becomes suspicious. She often watches him in the café, hears evasive answers and doesn't leave him alone with her children.
2013 and 2014: the façade could crumble
Thomas N. lives with his mother in Rupperswil. He develops a fear that his lies could slowly be exposed. In January or February 2013, according to the 2017 indictment, he decided to do something about it. He creates a document on his computer certifying that he has a "Bachelor of Science". He forged the signatures of professors and principals.
In 2014, he drafted a second, similar document. He put the logo of the university where he had supposedly studied on it and forged the signatures of professors again. He presented both documents to his mother to encourage her to believe that he had successfully completed his studies. According to the indictment, the aim was for her to continue to finance his livelihood.
Spring 2015: The idea for the crime
Thomas N. does not have a job at this point. So in the spring of 2015, he had the terrible idea of finding another way to get money: He wants to steal it from other people and then kill them.
He does the math: 30,000 francs should be enough until summer 2016. Thomas N. spins his thoughts further and further until, in summer 2015, he has a concrete plan of how he wants to proceed.
Around the same time, N. discovers his future victim. The younger son of the Schauer family, who was 13 years old at the time.
N. takes a liking to him. The idea arises to carry out his plan with the Schauer family. He begins to observe the boy, almost to shadow him. He kept running into him, seemingly by chance, but never spoke to him. The indictment states that N. felt a "thrill", a feeling of happiness, with every encounter.
Summer to fall 2015: the preparation
It is clear to him: now he has to plan and prepare for the deed. N. buys the following items at various times: black cable ties, duct tape, six bottles of torch oil, a long kitchen knife and sex toys.
N. packs the items in a rucksack. In November 2015, he walked past the home of the victim's family about ten times with his rucksack on his shoulder. At first, he planned to abduct the youngest son. Then he changed his mind and decided to gain access to the house.
Monday, December 21, 2015: The day of the crime
05.30 a.m.
Thomas N. goes for a walk with his two dogs. He has made up his mind. He wants to carry out the crime today. But as he walks past the Schauers' house, he sees a car parked in front of it. He decides to postpone everything. He goes home. Then he has another change of heart: he decides to commit the crime that day after all.
07.30 to 8.00 a.m.
He sets off again with his rucksack. Between 7.30 and 8.00 a.m., N. rings the doorbell of the Schauer family. The mother, Carla Schauer, opens the door. He tells her that he is from the school psychology service and needs to speak to the younger son because a classmate has been bullied to the point of suicide. He presents Carla Schauer with a forged letter.
She lets him into the house. There is a 20-minute conversation between the mother and Thomas N. Then Carla Schauer fetches her younger son and goes into the bathroom to do his hair.
N. talks to his son. Then he takes out his knife and holds it to the boy's throat. He ties him up with the cable ties and takes him to the second floor to see the mother. N. wants to know where the older son is. He is on the upper floor with his girlfriend.
N. ties up the older son and his girlfriend. Then he demands money from Carla Schauer: she is to go to an ATM and withdraw as much cash as possible. The mother obeys and goes to an ATM, where she withdraws about 10,000 francs in cash.
Around 09.30 a.m.
N. leads the handcuffed younger boy to the first floor. The 13-year-old has to kneel down in front of the perpetrator. N. takes pictures of him. After about 30 minutes, Carla Schauer returns. She is also tied up. The perpetrator takes the boy to the first floor again and sexually assaults him. He records this with his cell phone and takes pictures of it. He then leaves the boy and goes back to the mother to make sure that she is still tied up.
Around 11.00 a.m.
N. goes to the top floor, where the older brother and his girlfriend are lying. He kills them both with a knife. Immediately afterwards he also kills Carla Schauer and shortly afterwards the youngest son.
He takes the torch oil out of his rucksack and douses the house from top to bottom with it. He empties a total of 6 torch oil bottles. He then starts a fire and leaves the scene. The fire department and police are alerted at 11.19 am.
N. goes home to his mother. He takes a shower and goes for a walk. In the evening, he meets up with colleagues in Zurich. They have dinner and go to the casino. N. pays for the evening with the Schauer family's money. The indictment states that N.'s life then continued as before the crime.
December 2015 to May 2016: the big search
A race against time begins for the police. The case quickly shook the whole of Switzerland and became one of the most sensational murder cases of recent years.
The police are investigating with sniffer dogs, witness interviews, internet analyses and a 40-strong special task force. But despite massive efforts - including financial ones - there are no concrete leads for a long time. Even a reward of 100,000 Swiss francs for the decisive tip does not turn the tide.
Meanwhile, just six days after the crime, Thomas N. was already toying with the idea of committing a similar crime. He plans, scouts and prepares.
In May 2016, the police make an unexpected breakthrough. Not through traditional forensics, but through digital investigation methods.
As reported by Blick, it was a tip from Google that put the investigators on the right track: the US internet company was able to show which IP addresses had been used to google information about the victim's family - before the crime. This data is compared with the results of an antenna search, which checks which cell phones were in the vicinity at the time of the crime.
The combination of these two data sets enables the investigators to narrow down the circle of suspects. A DNA comparison finally provides confirmation: Thomas N. is identified as the suspected perpetrator. He can be arrested.
Around five months after the crime, plainclothes officers storm the Starbucks in Aarau. Thomas N. is arrested and remanded in custody.
March 13 to 16, 2018: The trial
Due to great public and media interest and the extensive security precautions, the trial does not take place in the Lenzburg district court as usual, but in a police building in Schafisheim AG.
Thomas N. appears calm in the courtroom, avoids eye contact with the victims' relatives, often lowers his head and remains generally emotionless.
After several days of hearings, the verdict follows: the court finds N. guilty of multiple murders, hostage-taking, sexual acts with a child and extortion.
The sentence: life imprisonment.
Despite the seriousness of the crimes, the court did not impose life imprisonment, as it was not considered unjustifiable, according to the then court president Daniel Aeschbach. The reason for this was a psychiatric report that did not certify that N. was clearly untherapizable - a legal requirement for such detention.
March 2018 to December 2025: Prison
Thomas N. is in the Pöschwies prison in Zurich. According to reports, the man from Aargau behaves in an exemplary manner. He is not conspicuous and adapts well. It seems as if N. is returning to his life before the crime: he shows his best side and smiles away his weaknesses.
December 2025: Can he be released again?
N. remains in prison - for the time being at least. In Switzerland, convicts are not allowed to apply for release for at least 15 years. N. has been in prison since May 2015. But in order to be released, Thomas N. would have to undergo therapy to ensure that he is not a danger to society. He must therefore apply for treatment.
N. did just that. At the end of 2025, the quadruple murderer is in the news again. He submits an application. In doing so, he achieved a "small legal success", as the media put it. The Aargau Administrative Court came to the conclusion that the authorities had not sufficiently examined whether the perpetrator could be treated at all - and if so, what specific measures would be necessary. This question must now be examined again in detail.
The public prosecutor's office in Aargau has lodged an appeal against the decision with the Federal Supreme Court - the case will therefore go to the next instance. In the meantime, the convict remains in prison.
This supposedly small step alone is causing unrest among the public. Critical voices warn that a promise of therapy could be seen as an "entry ticket to resocialization".
Forensic psychiatrists give the all-clear: serious criminals like Thomas N. would be under close observation today. A close eye is kept on any decisions regarding relaxation or possible release.
