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In the early morning hours of January 30, 1889 Crown Prince Rudolf, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, murdered his 17 year old mistress and then took his own life at his hunting lodge in Mayerling, Austria. The details of this apparent murder suicide were pretty straightforward. But, in the confusion that followed, much was done to cover up the details of what actually happened. Evidence was covered up, misinformation was spread, and medical records were falsified. In the end, a seemingly cut and dry murder suicide was twisted into a complete mystery. That is, until 2015 when a hand written letter was discovered inside of a brown leather folder in a safety deposit box in Vienna. Let’s fix that. 

Sources: 

• The History Blog “Mary Vetsera’s Suicide Notes Found in Vienna Bank”
• Wikipedia “Mayerling Incident”
• Czech Center Houston Museum “The Mayerling Incident”
• Encyclopedia Britannica “Archduke Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria”
• Wikimedia Commons “Mayerling Final Letter”

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