22 years ago today, Alexander Jost was shot dead in Linz by police officers who had exposed him as the serial bank robber “Pinocchio”. Who was the man – and why did he have two faces?
Police sirens, blue lights, shots: on May 29, 2000, there was a major confrontation in Linz between a bank robber and the police. At about 4 p.m., the previously unknown man, masked with a cloth, stormed a Raiffeisen cash register and pressed a gun to the cashier’s temple. He grabbed the money, sprinted out of the bank branch and fled on a stolen moped. Pursued by alarmed officers, the man had fallen onto the street and ran through a doorway on foot.
Numerous shots were fired there around 4.15 pm: two uniformed police officers from the Linz police caught the gangster and asked him to surrender. But he pulls out a deceptively real-looking lighter pistol and aims at his pursuers. The police pulled the trigger 15 times and the perpetrator died moments later in hospital from his serious injuries.
suicide by the police
Detectives suspect he provoked the fatal shots – keyword Suicide by Cop, or suicide by police. The proceedings against the police officers were later withdrawn. But who is the handsome man who doesn’t want to live on after his exposure?
Forensic officers find his car in the immediate vicinity of the crime scene and on his finger is a wedding ring engraved with the name of his wife, a high-ranking politician.
Alexander Jost is the infamous “Pinocchio”
This makes the identity clear: the person shot is Alexander Jost, a 38-year-old businessman from Graz. And, as the detectives soon realized, he is also probably the ghost who in recent years has robbed banks all over Austria, stolen more than three million schillings and defrauded a hundred police officers: the infamous “Pinocchio”!
Between 1996 and 2000, “Pinocchio” robbed eight financial institutions, six of them in the metropolis of Mur, always following the same pattern: masked with carnival masks, he stormed into the offices, demanded large sums of money and left without trace. His getaway cars were motorcycles he’d stolen before. Witnesses describe him as a sporty man with a big nose: “Something like Pinocchio!” How appropriate – because he is always one step ahead of the police.
His wife had no idea what he was doing
Alexander Jost leads a perfect double life. On the one hand he imitates the faithful husband, on the other he is a cold-blooded criminal who robs banks and threatens customers and employees.
When his wife, who is five months pregnant, finds out about her husband’s actions, her world collapses. She has no idea that her beloved ‘Alex’ has two faces.
He is surrounded by an aura of the unapproachable, he likes to keep people at a distance. In the few pictures there are of the 38-year-old, he smiles mischievously. The teeth are sparkling clean, the coat fits well. In his hometown he is called the “beautiful Sascha”, who, at least on the outside, seems to have everything right: he has a beautiful wife from a good family with a good job, a child is on the way, he enjoys a life of luxury.
Maldives vacation and expensive motorcycles
Alexander Jost drives Mercedes and motorbike, likes to go on holiday to the Maldives. In his bread and butter he is a sole proprietor at a marketing and consultancy firm, but apparently not very successful. Investigating the mysterious “Pinocchios” operation, the police come across a house of cards that could have collapsed at any moment. The company’s low income is not enough for a sweet island life.
So where does he get the money to travel to the Indian Ocean? It probably comes from the raids: The loot, in today’s currency of over half a million euros, should fund his existence as a dazzling bon vivant. Why the “beautiful Sascha” becomes the cheeky “Pinocchio” can no longer be clarified. “He took the secret with him to his grave,” the investigating officers emphasize.
The why question is never answered
It was already clear to them then that Jost’s self-image as a successful businessman and loving husband collapsed the moment he was cornered by the police. By choosing ‘suicide by the police’ he escapes the shame of the convicted criminal. And the question of why his wife and child would ever have asked him that.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
