John Getreu


John Arthur Getreu is an American murderer and possible serial killer who was convicted of one murder in 1963 that took place in West Germany. He is also charged with two more murders, committed in California between 1973 and 1974, which means he could be an international serial killer.

Crimes

Convicted:
Suspect:
The Perlov murder had many suspects in the case, but all were ruled out until November 24, 2018 when Getreu was arrested by authorities after crime scene DNA was linked to him using a genetic genealogy site, GEDmatch. After that, the Taylor murder DNA was linked to Perlov DNA, so Getreu is now being charged with both murders. Getreu has pled not guilty to both murders and is scheduled to go on trial for the Perlov murder in September 2020.

Media

The case against Getreu was covered in detail, along with the murder of Arlis Perry, in a February 2020 episode of Casefile True Crime Podcast.