I’ve discussed health care practitioners who are a travesty upon the entire medical field. But I don’t think I’ve discussed a case quite as atrocious as this. This is the tale of The Acid Doctor.
Geza de Kaplany was born on June 27th, 1926 in Mako, Hungary. He grew up in a rather wealthy and aristocratic family, but despite appearances, they were quite abusive. De Kaplany’s father was physically abusive, and his mother was emotionally distant. Reports claim that the abuse once reached the level where de Kaplany lost sight in one of his eyes after a severe beating from his father.
Despite these hardships, de Kaplany thrived. He was wicked intelligent, and he often used his intelligence in order to get ahead in life. When his father died in 1938, he believed himself to be free in order to pursue whatever he desired.
De Kaplany went on to study medicine at the University of Szeged, earning the coveted title of Doctor. He never forgot to remind people that he was now Dr. Geza de Kaplany, graduating with honours in 1951.
He worked for many years as a cardiologist in Budapest, but “clashed with officials in the Hungarian Revolution”. He fled when the Revolution failed in 1956. He traveled through England and Denmark, writing a book about his adventures as a ‘freedom fighter’ titled Doctor in Revolt. Shortly thereafter, de Kaplany emigrated to the United States, residing first in Boston where he discovered that his degree was not recognized.
De Kaplany used his wealth and retrained as an anesthesiologist. He interned at Milwaukee Hospital from August 1957 to August 1958. His colleagues commented to themselves that he wasn’t very social, though they figured it was just a case of him being new to the country. Little did they know that de Kaplany had socialized plenty.
De Kaplany moved out west and settled in San Jose, earning employment at San Jose Hospital.
Shortly after his move, in June of 1962, he met Hajna Piller, also a Hungarian immigrant. She was 25, he was 36. She was a former fashion model, and the daughter of Gyorgy Piller, an internationally acclaimed Olympic fencer. Some newspapers ventured so far as to call her the most beautiful woman in San Francisco.
Two years prior to the meeting, Hajna’s father passed away, and her mother fretted over Hajna’s career and lifestyle. Rumours state that upon meeting de Kaplany in 1962, she wasn’t very smitten with the man. She already had a boyfriend whom she loved very much. But she cut contact with her boyfriend and dated the doctor instead – he came from money and aristocracy, Hajna’s mother figured her daughter would be well cared for.
After a whirlwind relationship, the couple married in August of 1962. That’s when the good, charming turned the tables. He was jealous, and incredibly insecure, and took it out on Hajna.
On August 27th, mere weeks after being married, de Kaplany visited a friend – an older woman named Jane – who was a widow from Hungary and had known Hajna’s family back in Hungary. De Kaplany sought Jane’s counsel – he was unhappy in his marriage. Hajna had turned cold. Jane claimed that she knew Hajna was having an affair. This claim has never been substantiated. Completely distraught, de Kaplany decided to stay the night with his ‘friend’.
The next day, de Kaplany and Jane sought the services of an attorney. De Kaplany wanted a speedy divorce. The attorney informed him that if he wanted it done as quickly as he was claiming, the best way was to file under the claim of mental cruelty. This didn’t sit well with de Kaplany. He wanted to file a claim of adultery. But the only proof he had was Jane’s word, which would not be enough for a speedy divorce. He also stated forcefully that he didn’t want to pay Hajna any form of alimony. This divorce was not going to get done as quickly as de Kaplany wanted. So, he sought other options.
That evening, on August 28th, 1962, de Kaplany convinced his wife to go to bed with him. He tied Hajna to the bed in their apartment, and then turned his favourite opera music up as loud as possible. He wrote Hajna a note informing her not to scream. He hoped the music would cover it up if she disobeyed.
De Kaplany proceeded to disfigure Hajna’s body with a scalpel. But he wasn’t done. He pulled out a suitcase, and took out a pair of rubber gloves as well as three vials. Over the course of three hours, he tortured Hajna. He poured the contents of the vials over her cuts – they contained a mixture of hydrochloric, sulphuric, and nitric acid. Hajna suffered third degree corrosive burns over most of the front of her body.
Neighbours complained about the loud music and ‘the sounds of wailing’. They called the police, though some sources state that de Kaplany called them himself, for whatever reason. Ambulance attendants burnt themselves on Hajna’s body when they attempted to move her. They needed protective gear. She was unrecognizable, and parts of her body had been eaten away.
Hajna was taken to hospital and recovered enough to tell the police her harrowing tale, forcefully adamant that she had never committed adultery. De Kaplany was unrepentant. He told police that he’d done it in order to frighten her – he wanted her to learn her lesson and never commit adultery again. “I just wanted to take her beauty away,” he said. He was certain that she would live through the experience, and he’d never face a day in prison. He didn’t anticipate being arrested then and there.
Thirty three days after the attack, on September 30th, 1962, Hajna succumbed to her injuries at St. Francis Memorial Hospital. The attack on Hajna has often been described as “the most horrendous single murder in American history”.
De Kaplany’s trial began on January 9th, 1963. He faced charges of murder by torture, upgraded from his original charges of attempted murder. At the behest of his lawyer, Edward de Vilbiss, de Kaplany pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Throughout the entire trial, de Kaplany showed no emotion. Until one day, the prosecutor showed the jury a photo of Hajna’s body. Enraged, de Kaplany leapt up from his seat and shouted “No! What did you do to her?!” as he attempted to snatch the photo out of the prosecutor’s hand.
Seeing the photo changed something in de Kaplany. Against the advice of his lawyer, he plead guilty by reason of insanity. Now, the jury had to decide his mental state only, rather than both his mental state, and his culpability.
Several different mental health professionals determined that de Kaplany was perfectly sane during the attack on Hajna. They determined that de Kaplany was an insecure, jealous man and he wanted to exact revenge on his wife for the supposed adultery.
The defence fought back. Their own mental health professional determined that de Kaplany was a paranoid schizophrenic – he had a total lack of emotion, an he was incapable of understanding why he did what he did.
The mental health professional went on to explain that this was exacerbated by de Kaplany’s complicated relationship with his mother. He loved her dearly, and did not receive motherly love in return. It resulted in de Kaplany’s intense mistrust in all women – his wife was no exception.
The defence kept firing on all pistons, coming up with ridiculous defence after ridiculous defence. Their most desperate tactic was sensationalized in the courtroom.
The defence claimed that de Kaplany had a ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ personality – there were two people inside of him. One was the good doctor, Dr. Geza de Kaplany. The other was an ‘evil alter ego’, a seedy French journalist with no moral compass named “Pierre de la Roche”. It had been “Pierre” who had committed the murder. “Pierre”, de Kaplany told a psychiatrist, had plagued de Kaplany for years.
De Kaplany described to the psychiatrist, who told the court, that when he resided in Boston, a woman had walked up to him. Intending to be friendly, he greeted her, only for her to tell him: “It’s not nice of you to hide from me, Pierre.” Perplexed, de Kaplany was informed by the woman that they’d had a sexual relationship, and he’d gotten her pregnant.
The prosecution called bullshit (not literally, that would be unprofessional), and pointed out that de Kaplany had always received very high grades in psychology at school. He was very intelligent, and quite capable of playing the system to his advantage – even going so far as manipulating others to get what he wanted.
Frustrated with the defence, the prosecution pulled out its trump card. After learning of the story about the woman from Boston, they went on a search. They found her living in Germany – her name was Ruth Krueger, and she had a much different story to tell.
She testified that she’d met de Kaplany in Boston, and that they’d gone out on a few dates. She did, indeed, get pregnant and she wanted to get married. De Kaplany was on board with the plan, except for one little snag – he was already married, and his wife was living in a mental institution. It wouldn’t be right to divorce her under those circumstances, he said. Of course, no such wife ever existed.
De Kaplany convinced Ruth to go to Sweden to have the baby, and he’d follow her as soon as he could. In the meantime, he set up an insurance policy that would financially support her and her child. The moment Ruth got to Europe, de Kaplany changed the beneficiary to his mother. Ruth was left to care for the child on her own.
The prosecution asked Ruth if it had been “Pierre” who had swindled her so. She said no. She’d always known this man as Dr. Geza de Kaplany.
Ruth’s testimony had proved the prosecution’s point – Dr. Geza de Kaplany was conniving and manipulative, and would stop at nothing to get exactly what he wanted.
The jury deliberated for three days. He was convicted of the charges, but the jury was swayed by the defence’s portrayal of de Kaplany’s abusive childhood – he was sentenced to life in prison, and classified a ‘special interest prisoner’ ensuring that he would never be released. The jury also stated that they found him to be legally sane, but medically insane – essentially, de Kaplany could tell right from wrong, but he was quite obviously mentally ill.
De Kaplany went up for parole twice, and was denied twice. Then, something tricky happened.
In 1974, a three-judge panel found that there had been a mistake in the trial. They stated that the trial court should have held hearings in order to determine whether or not de Kaplany had been competent to stand trial, and whether or not he was competent to plead guilty. These things didn’t happen. The panel gave the courts two options – release him, or hold a retrial.
At the same time, something else was happening on the sidelines.
During his original trial in 1963, de Kaplany had earned the support of the San Fransisco Catholic Church. The church then suggested in 1975 that de Kaplany should put his medical skills to good use and become a medical missionary. To his parole board, with the church’s assistance, he said: “I will devote the rest of my life – however long or short it may be – to serving the poor in underdeveloped countries, whose pain and suffering I will alleviate.”
On November 13th, 1975, de Kaplany was granted a very secret parole. He was released from prison and sent to Taiwan to work as a cardiologist at a Catholic hospital in Lutsao. No one was informed.
There was also controversy surrounding this hearing for other reasons. The photos of Hajna’s body were removed by one of the members of the board. The photos were never found. A year later, that board member resigned for ‘personal reasons’ after a very, very angry public called for action.
While working at the clinic, de Kaplany became enraged with the legal process, becoming increasingly frustrated with San Jose officials making their mandated parole checks. In 1978, he wrote them a letter threatening to sue them for $1 million if they didn’t stop the ‘persecution and harassment’.
In 1979, de Kaplany remarried and then fled Taiwan to escape the parole checks. Apparently, ‘the rest of his life’ only meant four years. Interpol caught up to him, and informed California officials of his movements, but for whatever reason, they never acted.
His presence was made known in December of 1980 when he was fired from a hospital in Munich, Germany. A German women’s magazine ran an article detailing the story of his actions, causing him to lose his job.
In 2002, de Kaplany – then 75 years old – was found by journalists for the San Jose Mercury News residing in Bad Zwischenahn, Germany. Two years prior, he’d become a naturalized German citizen. Extradition for fleeing his parole conditions was impossible.
Even after all that time, he remained remorseless, telling the reporters not to run the story because it would ruin his peaceful life in retirement. “I’ve made one mistake in my life. I’ve paid enough for it,” he told them.
I’m certain many, many others beg to differ.
As of 2015, it was reported that de Kaplany was still alive. Nothing has been heard from him since.
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Sources:
The Acid Doctor: The Most Horrendous Murder in American History, 1962 – Jason Lucky Morrow – Historical Crime Detective
Fugitive killer’s haven – Dan Reed, Tracy Seipel, & Sascha Balasko – The San Jose Mercury News
Episode 61: The Ha Ha Tonka Castle and The Acid Doctor – Let’s Go To Court! podcast
Geza de Kaplany Wikipedia page