Vinko Pintarić (3 April 1941 – 25 May 1991) was a Croatian serial killer and outlaw who murdered five people over the course of 17 years and escaped from prisons and police stakeouts on multiple occasions. His violent, vindictive nature and proficiency with firearms struck fear into inhabitants of Hrvatsko Zagorje, a region of northern Croatia where he spent years at large, hiding from the law enforcement and engaging in various crimes, until his 1991 death in a shootout with the police.
Protracted media coverage of his exploits made Pintarić a household name in Croatia and Yugoslavia and even brought him a degree of sympathy from the general public, who saw him as a Robin Hood-like figure, and dubbed him "Čaruga of Zagorje", after an infamous post-World War I outlaw Jovo Stanisavljević Čaruga.
Early life
Pintarić was born in 1941 in Zrinski Topolovac near Bjelovar. During World War II, his father Ilija joined the Partisan resistance, but near the end of the war he was taken away by the Ustaše and spent several months with them. Because of this, in June 1945 Ilija was beaten by Department of National Security (OZNA) agents in the presence of his family, including Pintarić and his elder brother Josip, and then taken away. Pintarić's mother urged Ilija's Partisan comrades to intervene on his behalf, but they refused. Ilija never returned; according to rumors, he was shot the day after his arrest.
Pintarić's mother remarried after a couple of years, and his alcoholic stepfather physically abused him. All these traumatic events instilled a permanent sense of betrayal in Pintarić and fueled his anger and resentment; he would often talk about "avenging his father". In his adolescence, he developed an interest in firearms, using them for poaching. On several occasions he had his illegally owned weapons confiscated by the police.
His first marriage lasted only a couple of months. Angered by demeaning treatment from his in-laws, he assaulted them, for which he spent some time in prison. He never returned to his wife. Instead, he moved to Zabok and married Katica Tisanić, a divorced woman with a child. They built a house in Zabok and had a daughter. For a while, Pintarić was a good husband and father, a man who wanted to move away from his traumatic childhood and failed marriage.
First murders
Pintarić committed his first murder on 26 April 1973. On that day, he applied for a job in a local factory, but was rejected. Disappointed over his repeated failures to secure a job in the factory and suspecting undue influence of his brothers-in-law, who were already employed there, he went to a local inn and drank heavily. On his way home, he got into a quarrel and physical confrontation with his neighbors. Pintarić went to his home to get a pistol, shot the neighbor dead, and wounded his neighbor's tenant. He hid for 18 days before turning himself in to the police. He was committed to Vrapče Psychiatric Hospital for evaluation, but he escaped from the institution on 18 September 1973 and went into hiding again.
Pintarić was suspicious towards his wife, believing that she was helping the police to capture or even kill him. On 24 October 1973 Pintarić shot her dead through the window of his brother's house and fled into the night. Again, Pintarić was drunk when he committed the crime, and had no recollection of the event on the following day. Only after inquiring about what had happened in Zabok, he realized that he had murdered his wife.
Pintarić was captured on 20 January 1974. The police learned of his whereabouts and surrounded the house in which he was hiding. After brief negotiations, Pintarić surrendered without resistance. He was tried for two murders, an attempted murder, and endangering his neighbors by shooting at their homes. He admitted the crimes, but pleaded not guilty, arguing that he was provoked into murder while intoxicated. On 18 November 1974 he was pronounced guilty and sentenced to death, an outcome Pintarić had feared the most. However, to his relief, this was quickly commuted to 20 years imprisonment, the maximum prison term under the law.
Imprisonment and escape
Pintarić served his sentence in Stara Gradiška prison. Due to his good behavior, he was assigned duties which were not accessible to other prisoners, such as preparing coffee and growing flowers. Still, after eight years in prison some problems emerged, as Pintarić was issuing threats to his former neighbors. At the same time, he was petitioning for a leave. The authorities were aware of his threats and denied all his petitions, assessing that he might commit more crimes upon release.