Spectacular investigative success of the Lower Franconian police: 45 years after the violent death of a young woman from Kolitzheim in the Schweinfurt district, the perpetrator was found. A now 69-year-old man was arrested in the United States, said the police and public prosecutor in Schweinfurt. The man was then stationed as a soldier in the US armed forces in Lower Franconia. First had the main post reports on the success of the investigation.
In April 1978 the body of an 18-year-old woman was found on a hill near a local road near Kolitzheim. The student’s body had numerous knife wounds in the back and neck area. The suspicion that the perpetrator could be from among the US armed forces arose early on after a witness saw a vehicle with a green US license plate near the site. However, the case remained unsolved for decades.
The investigators had already come up with the person who was arrested in 1996. The then 24-year-old is said to have had a relationship with his victim. However, he had always denied the crime in his interrogations. For a long time, the clues were not enough to get him arrested. In 2001, the investigation had to be temporarily suspended. However, the files were never fully closed. According to information from main post the woman is said to have been pregnant by the US soldier. He is said to have confessed to his wife’s crime in the USA.
Thanks to advanced developments in forensic technology, experts from the State Criminal Police Office have now succeeded in isolating DNA traces on the victim’s clothing. The man was arrested on the basis of an international arrest warrant in the US state of Nebraska and is now awaiting extradition to Germany. The investigations are ongoing.