Is there any consensus as to whether the Baader-Meinhof members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe killed themselves in prison or were murdered by the German authorities?

The mystery of the deaths of Baader, Ensslin, and Raspe is certainly contentious. The prisoners were housed in what had been called "the most secure prison block in the world. Visitors and lawyers had been subjected to such intense inspections that Amnesty International had filed complaints about it. They were not suppose to have radios or other methods of learning of the events of the outside world. And they were not supposed to be able to communicate to each other after their cell doors were closed at night.

Yet despite all of this, the group managed to learn of the successful raid to rescue the hostages on hijacked Lufthansa plan (that had been captured in an effort to secure their release), apparently via a radio that they weren't supposed to have, then they talked to each other using an improvised "telephone" system using their stereos and unused powerlines between their cells, then Baader pulled out a hidden gun (again, in "the most secure prison block in the world"), shoots himself TWICE, then Raspe pulls out ANOTHER hidden gun, kills himself, and Ensslin takes out a strong wire from her stereo and feeds it through the mesh covering her window, and hangs herself. And Irgmard Moeller stabs herself in the chest with a breadknife; missing her heart sac by millimeters (she recovers).

It almost seemed (and seems) insane to believe... which many did not. Rather they believed that the government lied; and actually murdered the Red Army Faction leaders.

But your question is about a consensus. The consensus among researchers, legal experts, and journalists without a fantastical agenda is the three killed themselves; and their deaths exposed many many flaws in how the German government and the state government dealt with the prisoners.

Certainly the leading person who has looked into the issue extensively is Stefan Aust. Aust was a former friend and colleague of Ulrike Meinhof; he followed her as editor of Konkret Magazine. He was the editor of Der Spiegel for several decades as the magazine covered the Baader-Meinhof Group/Red Army Faction in detail. He wrote what is still the definitive book about the group "Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex." The book served as the basis for the Oscar nominated movie from a few years ago.

In the first edition of the book he described the events of "Death night" in detail. He never actually calls it suicide; he simply presents the events and the known facts; and leaves the reader with the impression that it was clearly the likely scenario (and he does make a compelling case). I was asked to preview and offer suggestions when the book was being updated and re-released prior to the movie. I noticed in his new forward that he no longer equivocates; he simply called it suicide. I later asked him about this in an interview; he basically said it was the rational explanation; and he equivocated earlier out of an effort to try to be "fair." (I think that is basically what he said; but I will check my notes). Interestingly though, the movie pulls back and basically equivocates about the issue.

So let's look at the evidence:

The Guns The fact that TWO guns were smuggled into "the most secure prison block in the world" seems to be the consensus leader for the "i cannot believe this is true" fact of the case. But it clearly was true. It helps to remember just how weird the whole situation was. The German government was so worried about terrorist actions surround the almost two year trial of Baader, Ensslin, Meinhof, and Raspe that they constructed a courthouse right on the grounds of Stuttgart's Stammheim prison, where the prisoners were held. And while lawyers were sometimes subjected to 90 minute searches when they'd go to meet Baader, Ensslin, et al... they weren't actually searched during the trial, and lawyers regularly passed large bundles of documents to Baader, Ensslin, and Raspe. It was within these bundles they had smuggled in many items, including two guns. (at least one of their lawyers was later convicted for his part in the smuggling operation).

The lawyers The majority of the lawyers for the defense were simply trying to provide an adequate defense for their clients. But a few were secretly members of the Red Army Faction, and were using their access to their clients to share information among all the imprisoned terrorists across Germany, as well as RAF members that were still on the run.

Hiding the Guns The prison block was unprecedented in many ways; not the least of which it was that it housed both men and women, and was completely separate from other prison wings. At various times there was construction in the cells and the block; and the prisoners would occasionally participate in the construction. It was at this time that Baader and Raspe apparent were able to conceal the weapons in the walls of their cells.

The "telephone" system The members of the group devised a "telephone" system by rigging up their stereo systems to act as both speakers and microphones in a system that connected each cell using an unused powerline between all the cells. One of the prisoners had a small smuggled radio and heard that the Lufthansa hijacking had failed, and communicated with the other prisoners via the "telephone", setting in motion the death pact.

Their "death wish" The members of the group had said on several occasions that their final "weapon" against the state would be their bodies. Meaning that they could or would sacrifice themselves as a final act (as others, like Holger Meins, had done with hunger strikes). They further told other members of the group to treat any deaths, whether suspicious or suicide, as murder by the state. Basically don't let the state off the hook, regardless of the actual facts of the death.

The weirdness:

Prison Cells bugged It was revealed after the trial (and I think after the deaths in prison, but I'm not quite sure right now), that the German police had bugged the cell where lawyers met with their clients. They claimed they only recorded for a single day during a particular crisis involving terrorists in Germany. On it's face this sounds ridiculous. The idea that they would go to the effort to install bugs in secret, and only listen for a single day? It sounds preposterous. However, no other recordings or transcripts have ever turned up. My two cents? The bugging was likely extensive, and it's possible it might have even included the cells of the prisoners. It's also likely that the reason for the bugging was because they were hoping for actionable intelligence about the RAF members on the run in Germany; and any pending actions. So if they did hear about specific violations of the prisoners (like having a secret radio), it's also likely they wouldn't have necessarily revealed that they knew of it, as to not let on that their conversations were bugged).

Three loud bangs There were three loud bangs that night; Baader firing two shots and Raspe one. Yet a guard stationed 20 or so feet away in a guard booth did not hear the shots. The prisoners were discovered the next morning (I believe Raspe was still alive, but died on the way to the hospital). How could the guard not have heard the shots? I have not been on the cell block, but photos and videos of the place shows that the doors were quite thick; which could perhaps explain sound being muffled. It's also possible that the guard was asleep, wandered off for food, or any number of other possibilities. It's also possibly that the guard heard the shots and was simply scared; Members of various German terrorist groups were known to find out the names and addresses of family members of guards, and quietly tell the guards "cut me some slack if you see me doing something I'm not supposed to, otherwise something might happen to your kids who live at this address and attend this primary school, etc."

Baader's two shots Baader fired two shots in his prison cell. Who takes two shots to commit suicide? (it's surprisingly common ). The explanation was that the he missed with his first shot, or, more likely, took one shot to indicate he was struggling, then the final death shot.

Over the last 20 years I have had a lot of people contact me about their own theories. I have had several people tell me about their parents, or friends, who were in top secret intelligence roles, and ferreted out Baader, Ensslin, Raspe, and Moeller that night, flew them to Mogadishu to help end the Lufthansa hostage crisis, then quickly flew them back when the GSC-9 anti terror squad managed to rescue the hostages anyway. The proof? "The boots, man! look at their boots! They were filled with sand from the desert that night!" Of course I've found no mention of sand in the boots outside of conspiratorial rantings; and I'm not even sure how they would have gotten sand in their boots while hanging out on a runway.

The deaths in Stammheim have definitely become a Rorschach Test for people. People on the left, or far left, seem to take is as a given that they were murdered by the state.

And it IS possible that this is the answer. But the totality of evidence, despite the weirdness, clearly leads to toward the idea that these people, recently convicted and soon to be separated to prisons throughout Germany to serve their sentences, and recently learning that external efforts to secure their release had failed (the plane hijacking), had decided to do exactly what they had talked about doing previously; use their bodies as their final act in their "war"... commit suicide and leave a cataclysm of doubt as to the responsibilities for the deaths.

Sources:

www.baader-meinhof.com

Aust, Stefan. "Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex" (English version is called "The Baader-Meinhof Complex" and the revised version is called "Baader-Meinhof, the inside story of the R.A.F.")