The Last Days of Peter Bergmann
Director Ciaran Cassidy
Countries Ireland
Duration 19 min
Synopsis
On Friday June 12th 2009, a man calling himself Peter Bergmann booked into the Sligo City Hotel giving an address in Austria of ‘Ainstettersn 15, 4472 Wien’. It was subsequently found out that neither the person nor address existed. Peter Bergmann was described as a small man in his fifties, thinning hair, with a deep ‘German’ accent and carried with him three large pieces of luggage., Over the next three days Peter Bergmann built up a daily routine of leaving the hotel on numerous occasions, frequently with a purple plastic bag that would appear half to three-quarters full and return with it empty. It is believed he was discarding his personal affects during these times to ensure he could not be traced., On Saturday, June 13th, Peter Bergmann bought eight 82-cent stamps and airmail stickers in the Sligo GPO but the destination of the letters posted and what they said would never be known., On Saturday, June 14th, the man left the Sligo City Hotel and asked a taxi driver where there was a nice quiet beach where he could swim. The taxi driver informed him that Rosses Point would be the best place to go and drove Mr Bergmann out there and back., On June 15th, the man checked out of the hotel, handing in his room key. He left the hotel carrying a black shoulder bag, a purple plastic bag but he mysteriously did not have a dark coloured luggage bag that he had when he arrived., Peter Bergmann walked to the bus station and ordered a cappuccino and a ham and cheese toasted sandwich. He took this to a nearby seat. While eating his food, he took out pieces of paper from his pocket numerous times, looked at it, folded it and put it back in. On one occasion, it appeared he tore the paper into pieces. He subsequently got a bus that departed for Rosses Point., Peter Bergmann’s body was discovered washed up on rocks in Rosses Point after committing suicide. On the shore in a neatly folded mound, his clothes were found with the labels removed to ensure they couldn’t be traced. An autopsy revealed that he had a tumour in his stomach., Despite a five month investigation, where Gardaí liaised intensely with European colleagues, Peter Bergmann was buried in Sligo. There were only four Garda at his funeral but despite a lengthy and exhaustive investigation, none of those present had any idea who Peter Bergmann was and why he had gone so inexplicably out of his way over those three days to ensure no one could ever trace him.
On Friday June 12th 2009, a man calling himself Peter Bergmann booked into the Sligo City Hotel giving an address in Austria of ‘Ainstettersn 15, 4472 Wien’. It was subsequently found out that neither the person nor address existed. Peter Bergmann was described as a small man in his fifties, thinning hair, with a deep ‘German’ accent and carried with him three large pieces of luggage., Over the next three days Peter Bergmann built up a daily routine of leaving the hotel on numerous occasions, frequently with a purple plastic bag that would appear half to three-quarters full and return with it empty. It is believed he was discarding his personal affects during these times to ensure he could not be traced., On Saturday, June 13th, Peter Bergmann bought eight 82-cent stamps and airmail stickers in the Sligo GPO but the destination of the letters posted and what they said would never be known., On Saturday, June 14th, the man left the Sligo City Hotel and asked a taxi driver where there was a nice quiet beach where he could swim. The taxi driver informed him that Rosses Point would be the best place to go and drove Mr Bergmann out there and back., On June 15th, the man checked out of the hotel, handing in his room key. He left the hotel carrying a black shoulder bag, a purple plastic bag but he mysteriously did not have a dark coloured luggage bag that he had when he arrived., Peter Bergmann walked to the bus station and ordered a cappuccino and a ham and cheese toasted sandwich. He took this to a nearby seat. While eating his food, he took out pieces of paper from his pocket numerous times, looked at it, folded it and put it back in. On one occasion, it appeared he tore the paper into pieces. He subsequently got a bus that departed for Rosses Point., Peter Bergmann’s body was discovered washed up on rocks in Rosses Point after committing suicide. On the shore in a neatly folded mound, his clothes were found with the labels removed to ensure they couldn’t be traced. An autopsy revealed that he had a tumour in his stomach., Despite a five month investigation, where Gardaí liaised intensely with European colleagues, Peter Bergmann was buried in Sligo. There were only four Garda at his funeral but despite a lengthy and exhaustive investigation, none of those present had any idea who Peter Bergmann was and why he had gone so inexplicably out of his way over those three days to ensure no one could ever trace him.