The South Tyrolean “escape king” Max Leitner has died

The South Tyrolean “escape king” Max Leitner has died at the age of 66. The serial robber was found dead in his apartment in Merano, as his lawyer confirmed. The cause of death was not known, but the South Tyrolean was in poor health. He escaped from prison five times.

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Leitner, who comes from the Eisack Valley and was responsible for several armed robberies in Austria and Italy, was released from prison for the last time last December. The Bolzano Supervisory Court had lifted all probation conditions for health reasons. However, Leitner was not allowed to leave the Merano municipality and was under medical care due to his health condition.

Max Leitner’s list of crimes is long: he spent a total of 26 years in prison. He was most recently arrested on the night of September 17, 2021, after two shots were fired at a prostitute’s car in Bolzano.

26 years in prison, 5 escapes

Leitner had more than lived up to his reputation as the “king of escapees” in the past. In August 1990, he and his accomplices attempted to rob a cash truck loaded with 90 million schillings near the Innsbruck-Süd exit of the Brenner motorway. The coup was foiled by a special police unit, Leitner was arrested after an exchange of fire and finally sentenced to twelve years in prison by a jury. A few days later, he managed to escape. He described the prison conditions in Austria as “medieval”.

Leitner continued his imprisonment in Bolzano, where, according to prison guards, he behaved “exemplarily” – until one day he abseiled down with sheets and ran away. In May 1993 he was caught again – temporarily. However, during a prison furlough in 2002, Leitner did not return to the high-security prison in Padua. After a bank robbery in 2003, he was caught by a large contingent of Carabinieri in a cornfield near Bruneck after a sensational escape lasting several days. He was convicted and taken to the prison in Bergamo – even then only temporarily.

An escape in December 2004 came to an abrupt end with an arrest in Morocco. In October 2011, he did not return to the prison in Asti in Piedmont after a day of release. In December of the same year, he was finally caught again. In September 2016, Max Leitner was transferred to house arrest in Elvas in Brixen for the remainder of his sentence until June 2019.