Rolf Müller was a circus strongman from East Germany[1] and member of the Ku Klux Klan. Müller was suspected to be Hooded Justice, but it was never confirmed.
Biography[]
Rolf Müller was born in 1917 to Henrik and Greta Müller in Kiel, Germany. His family was on the run during the Communist witch-hunts.[1]
On June 14, 1919, the Müller family (including a 2-year-old Rolf) arrived at Ellis Island. The family moved to Macon County. Müller's father was very physically abusive towards Rolf's mother with incident reports being regularly filed to the Macon County Sheriff's Office but no charges were ever pressed.[2]
On February 6, 1930, a 13-year-old Rolf brutally beat his father in retaliation for the abuse that he and his mother faced. After this, Henrik ran away to Atlanta with a young grocer named Mary and left behind a letter asking Greta to tell Rolf that he loved them both.[2]
On April 15, 1932, a 15-year-old Rolf ran away from home which caused his mother to file an incident report and have a bulletin issued. Rolf found work as a strongman for the Sackson and Shanley Circus's "Big Top Hello Mobile" troupe as "Rolf the European Powerhouse". Müller also began a sexual relationship with a fellow performer named Frank Burrows, something he became deeply ashamed of. At some point, Müller becomes a staunch anti-communist and joined the Ku Klux Klan.
In September 1933, the Sackson and Shanley Circus visited Atlanta. Samuel and Eloise Horton, a black couple, were murdered by Klansmen as the couple were walking home after having attended the circus.
On September 26, 1933, Rolf, Burrows, and three other Klan members were acquitted by a biased jury of the murders of Samuel Horton and his wife Eloise.
At age 21, Rolf left Sackson and Shanley's for another circus, NYC Shriners, which was permanently located in New York City.[2]
Müller quit his job at the height of the Senate Subcommittee hearings.[1]
On April 17, 1955, Müller vanished.
Almost a year after H.J.'s disappearance, the New Frontiersman mentioned Müller's disappearance, and implied that he was executed by his Communist superiors. Three months later a decomposing body with a shot on his head was washed up the coast of Boston. It was tentatively identified as Müller.[1]
Legacy[]
Connection to Hooded Justice[]
In the fifth chapter of Under the Hood, Hollis Mason speculates about the fate of the mysterious Hooded Justice, and raises the possibility that he was actually Rolf Müller, a prominent circus strongman who quit his job at about the same time the vigilante vanished, only to wash up three months later in Boston, with a bullet to the head. Mason alludes to the article in the New Frontiersman that implied Müller, a suspected communist, had been murdered by his superiors. However, he doubles down on the possibility that Müller was Hooded Justice, noting their similar builds.[1]
Trivia[]
- While he didn't appear in the movie, the Hooded Justice spoke with a subtle German accent, which heavily implies that he's indeed Müller in the movie's continuity.
- Interestingly, Samuel and Eloise Horton were murdered in Atlanta, the city that Henrik claimed he was running away to with Mary.