When Estibaliz Carranza was given the nickname "The Ice Lady" during her trial, she knew that she officially had no control over her narrative in the courtroom...
The Ice Lady
A Woman's Experience
Earlier in her life, she felt trapped in her relationships, and was sure of just one thing—she had to get out, no matter what it took. Her story is certainly a wild one, and while she's now getting the help she needs, her actions were shocking...
Plumbers Arrive
It was an ordinary spring day for two plumbers in Vienna. A sweet woman who owned an ice cream shop asked the pair to help redo her pipes in her basement. It was a pretty routine job that they'd done countless times, but this would be much different...
The Popular Shop
The two men actually knew the store pretty well. It was a successful ice cream shop that was a local favorite in the town. They'd visited the place before with their families and enjoyed their time there. Little did they know what horrific secret lurked in the basement...
Getting to Work
The ice cream shop owner met the men outside and lead them to the basement. She showed them exactly where they needed to dig up. "No further," she told them. They told her that they understood and she went back up to her apartment above the shop. They didn't hesitate to start their work.
Uneven Flooring
As they began bringing their supplies down to the basement, they realized that some of the flooring was extremely uneven. One part of it looked like it had been dug up before. They genuinely didn't think anything of it at the time...
Finding Ice Cream Freezers
Once they got to work, they realized that they needed to dig up more than they were expecting. In order to do that, they had to go against her wishes and dig up one part of the basement that had already been dug up. That's when they found an ice cream freezer buried in the ground...
They Found the Bodies
They opened up the freezers and found the bodies of two men. This would end up being one of the most heinous crimes to rattle that small part of town. The plumbers ran off and called the police to report the crime. By the time the police barged into her apartment, she was gone.
Escape to Italy
After a couple of weeks, Estibaliz Carranza was found hiding away in Italy. They extradited her back to Austria for questioning. At the beginning of her interrogation, she told them that she knew about the murders and that she was also pregnant by a man who was not involved. Things got tricky.
What Will They Do With the Baby?
So far, the evidence against Carranza was not looking good. It was determined that she would have the baby in prison and the baby would then be adopted out of the system. She couldn't raise a baby where she was going...
Her Moniker
All of a sudden, this was the biggest case in Vienna. Carranza quickly became "The Ice Lady," a woman who was accused of killing two men and pregnant with a third unknown man. Soon after, the news came out that the bodies belonged to her ex-husband and current boyfriend. The media immediately labeled her as a cold-blooded criminal.
The Ex-Husband
When asked about her motive, Carranza said that her ex-husband was a mean man who never left her alone. Even after they divorced, she wasn't able to get rid of him because of their ice cream shop.
A Horrible Husband
Carranza claimed that he was a horrible and abusive husband. She felt like she couldn't get away from him. Even in a divorce, he was still living in her home. She felt like there was nothing else to do but kill him...
The Day It Happened
Around 3 p.m. on a sunny Saturday afternoon, Carranza shot and killed her ex-husband while he had his back to her. She said that killing him was a quick, split-second decision that she wasn't really planning to do.
Back to Business
Minutes after the murder happened, she got a phone call from an employee downstairs. The employee needed her to help with something, so she dropped everything and went down there, leaving the body at the computer. She knew that it was risky, but what else was there to do?
Cleaning Up
It was about an hour before she was able to return back to her apartment. She was too small of a person to handle his dead body by herself, so she had to chop it up. She turned on an ice cream machine that she had in the apartment and used a chainsaw to dismember his body...
Clean Up
After the horrific deed was done, she went to the basement, put his body in an icebox, and buried it. After that, she went back to the home to clean it up. She said that she spent at least three full days cleaning the apartment so that it was spotless. After she was done, she said that she treated herself to a manicure.
Back To Normal
Apparently, she had no guilt. She got a manicure to treat herself to her newfound freedom and for doing a decent shop of covering it up... Carranza decided to live like she normally did after that, never hinting that something might have happened to anyone. Not even in her boyfriend.
The Next Victim
Manfred Hinterberger and Carranza began their relationship casually. In 2011, the two had a horrible argument about an apparent affair. That was the night that Carranza decided to murder him. It wasn't such a split decision, though, as she had been considering the concept him for months...
A Rough Relationship
Carranza didn't have much luck in the relationship world. She and Hinterberger fought often, which would usually get physical. Carranza claimed that Hinterberger always threw the first punch, not knowing what she was really capable of...
She Took Shooting Lessons
According to the official police investigation, Carranza had taken shooting lessons in the months before Hinterberger's murder. In addition to those lessons, she also paid for a concrete mixer and concrete... Those things together didn't look good.
The Fateful Night
After the most brutal fight of their relationship, they both went to bed. Carranza laid down and waited for him to fully be asleep. She was still trying to work through her madness when he began to snore. That was the moment when she decided that was the night she would strike.
She Shot Him
She rolled over, got the gun from under her bed, and shot him in the head. After that, she decided that she was too tired to clean up the body and slept on the couch.
Peaceful Morning
That next morning, she woke up feeling refreshed. She made some coffee as part of her morning routine and went to check out the scene that she left in the bedroom. After finishing up her coffee, she grabbed the chainsaw and dismembered his body, just as she did with her first victim.
She Has Two Faces
While many people felt sorry for her situation, prosecutor Petra Frey made a note that she was a completely two-sided person. After a psychiatric evaluation, Frey stated that a cold-blooded killer was behind that calm and innocent composure.
A Clear Conscious
When a reporter asked if she felt guilty, she said, "I can't say anything other than that I am sorry that I took Holger and Manfreds' lives." Some people were swayed by her admission of guilt, but many others saw through her.
What Went Through Her Mind?
Carranza played the victim whenever she got the chance to. “I killed two men, whom I once loved. There is no way of glossing this over, I robbed two mothers of their sons. I believed I had to serve men, no matter how they behaved.” When asked about just leaving her boyfriend, she said, “I couldn’t say no. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t get free of him."
Life Sentence
After extensive trials and multiple psychiatric evaluations, Carranza was sentenced to life in a psychiatric unit. When she began to serve her time there, the nurses who worked there claimed to see right through her. "She wants to be a princess who is saved by a prince," one noted.
Her Book
In 2014, Carranza wrote her own memoir about the experience. She wrote that she had no voice during her trials and no one believed the abuse that she went through. The only way to get away from them was to kill them. Her goal for the book was to write about her side... The side that she didn't get to tell.
She Said She Blames Herself
In her book, she took full responsibility for her actions and claimed that all of the proceeds would go to the families that she "stole" from. She tried to admit guilt, but some professionals have insisted that even her words were fake. She exhibited the behavior of a true narcissistic psychopath.
She Was Too Violent
Her life behind walls tells a much different story. She got so violent that she had to be moved to an all-male penitentiary that could actually handle her violent outbursts.
The First Female
She was the first woman in all of Austria to be imprisoned there. There are 91 men that are housed there who have committed horrific crimes. If Carranza was such an innocent person, she most likely would not be there. Even though she's gotten married again, her days as the Ice Lady are over.