When an Austrian ice cream parlor burst a few pipes, the repairmen were hired by the owner to replace them.
Little did they know, they were in for a shocking discovery that would leave them traumatized for the rest of their lives.
Estibaliz Carranza
No one was surprised when they heard that the pipes in the ice cream parlor had burst. At that point, Schleckeria had been already operating in downtown Vienna for over 50 years.
The original owners eventually sold the shop to Estibaliz Carranza, a Spanish national.
New Owner
Although the ice cream shop badly needed to be repaired, Carranza was against this idea.
She knew she would eventually have to repair the parlor, but she didn't want to do it until it was absolutely necessary. Then, one day, the pipes burst, and she called the maintenance specialists to come into the shop.
In The Basement
The repairmen had to take a look at the basement to see what had happened.
They started digging in the basement to locate the damaged pipes, but instead, they found something they hadn't expected.
Murderer
They discovered the bodies of two men in Carranza's basement, which she stored in ice-cream tubs filled with concrete.
But what was her reason for committing these horrific crimes?
Remains
The repairmen called the authorities as soon as they saw the remains of the two men.
Carranza went into panic mode and booked a one-way flight to Paris. But her plan fell through when she realized the police were already searching for her at the airport using her passport.
Arrested
So, she hired a taxi to go to Italy, but eventually, the authorities extradited her to Austria.
When they finally had Carranza in custody, they learned another shocking truth about her.
In Custody
Carranza was three months pregnant at the time of her arrest.
She told the authorities everything about the human remains found in her basement and didn't even try to hide the fact that she had murdered both men. But who were they?
The Truth
Carranza admitted to killing her ex-boyfriend and her ex-husband and hiding their remains in her basement.
She also told the authorities that she knew that someone would eventually uncover her secret, and that's why she wasn't keen on repairing her shop.
"The Ice Lady" vs "The Ice Cream Killer"
When the media heard about Carranza, they gave her two fitting nicknames: "The Ice Lady" and "The Ice Cream Killer."
But Carranza had her own reasoning behind her crimes.
"Lazy Slob"
Carranza told the authorities that her ex-husband, Holger Holz, was a "lazy slob" who abused her and was involved in a cult.
He didn't want to move out of their apartment above the ice cream shop, so she decided to end his life instead. She had carefully planned his murder, too.
Dead
Around 3 PM, Carranza crept up from behind her husband while he was using his computer and shot him from the back.
As she was disposing of his body, she received a phone call that almost ruined her plan.
A Problem
An ice-cream shop employee had called Carranza to let her know there was a problem with one of the customers in the shop.
So, she had to wait a few hours to cut her ex-husband's body up with a chainsaw.
Horrific Task
"I can say to anyone who has seen a horror film that the reality of cutting up a body with a chainsaw is far worse," Carranza wrote in her memoir.
Then, she described how she got rid of the smell later on.
The Smell
"I put the pieces into the freezer, but despite that, the smell would not go away. I tried so many different perfume sprays, but nothing worked. It was ever-present," she continued.
She used the running ice cream machine to mute the sounds of the chainsaw.
Cleaning
Once Carranza finished cutting up her ex-husband's body, it was time to clean up all the blood. It took her several days to clean the place.
Eventually, Carranza hired professional cleaners to finish the job.
Another Problem
But the job of disposing of her ex-husband's body was more difficult than she imagined.
And it wasn't long before she ran into some new troubles. Carranza and her new boyfriend, Manfred Hinterberger, started having issues.
It Was Planned
Carranza couldn't stand him anymore and decided to kill him, too. She even took concrete-mixing and shooting classes to get the job done faster.
Her excuse for ending Hinterberger's life was that he was having an affair with another woman.
Exposed
“I found pornographic pictures of other women, including one text message from a woman asking him when she was going to see him again,” Carranza wrote in her memoir.
She killed Hinterberger while he was asleep.
Dangerous Woman
Petra Frey, the prosecuting attorney, believes Carranza's innocent appearance helped her mask her horrific crimes.
She was a dangerous woman who was waiting for an opportunity to strike again.
"I'm Sorry"
"All I can say is that I'm sorry I took the lives of Holger and Manfred." Carranza cried as she confessed to the judge.
"There is no way of glossing this over," she wrote. "I robbed two mothers of their sons."
"I Couldn't Do It"
She was sentenced to life in a mental hospital. According to Carranza, she couldn't get rid of her abusive ex-husband and was afraid of him.
"I couldn't say no. I couldn't do it, I couldn't get free of him," she wrote.
Her Tell-All Book
While in the mental hospital, The Ice-Cream Killer wrote a tell-all book.
She admitted that she understood the consequences of her actions after giving birth to her child.
Too Dangerous
"Becoming a mother myself has only really brought home to me what I did. I have a son born in jail, and knowing how much he means to me has shown me how much I took away from two other mothers," she wrote.
After Carranza's book was published, she was moved to an all-male psychiatric prison in Austria, as she was considered too dangerous.
New Husband
In 2012, she got married to the father of her son. However, she is still behind bars and will remain there for the rest of her life.
She describes her new husband as “very gentle, the opposite of macho. He would not bring me into such a situation.” Carranza is the only woman in her new prison in Asten, Upper Austria.
All-Male Prison
As of 2017, the special all-male prison holds Carranza and 91 men.
This prison is staffed with a large number of prison guards, nurses, therapists, and doctors. However, more women could be transferred there in the future. But Carranza says she has already achieved the main goal in her life.
Kids
She always wanted to have kids, not a career. So when her ex-husband stopped being intimate with her, she wondered if she would ever become a mother.
That's why she divorced him in the first place.