File number XY: Cold Case from 1990 – Who killed Klaus Berninger?

Case with “Aktenzeichen XY…unsolved”
Cold case from 1990: who murdered baker’s apprentice Klaus Berninger?

In December 1990, 16-year-old Klaus Berninger disappeared. The son of a baker’s family in the Bavarian town of Wörth am Main is last seen in a pub. His body was found three days later at a tourist destination. On Wednesday, the case is the subject of the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY…unsolved”.

It is around 3 p.m. on December 20, 1990 when Klaus Berninger is picked up by a friend. The 16-year-old lives with his parents and two sisters in Wörth am Main, Bavaria, a small town in the Lower Franconian district of Miltenberg. The son of a baker’s family has been completing an apprenticeship in the local bakery for about four months.

On that Thursday afternoon, the two buddies ride their mopeds to a youth center where Klaus Berninger meets a work colleague and has a brief chat with him. The two agree to meet later. Around 4 p.m. he and his friend end up in the “Nachtfalter” pub – a popular meeting place for young people from the area. A local resident saw the teenager for the last time at 5:45 p.m. with his work colleague near the pub. After 6 p.m., his trail is lost. Atypical: The 16-year-old leaves his beloved Hercules moped in front of the pub.

Klaus Berninger’s body found the day before Christmas Eve

Three days later, on December 23, his body was found by horsemen near the Michaelshütte in the direction of Schneesberg – a destination on the outskirts of Wörth. Since the route there is long and difficult to reach on foot, investigators assume that the boy drove there with one or more people in the car. The 16-year-old was brutally murdered. “Deceased after a sharp blow to the neck” describes the trace report, in factual language and shocking detail. The police are sure that the place where she was found is also the scene of the crime.

In May of the same year, the family’s bakery was broken into. Klaus’ father caught the perpetrator and drove him away. Because of these events and because Klaus Beringer’s neon-colored wallet disappeared after the crime, there is a suspicion that it could have been an act of revenge. But despite intensive investigations, the boy’s killer cannot be found.

Even more than 30 years after the fact, the case does not let go of the investigators. On April 22, 2022, police put up posters across the city. At an event in a gymnasium, the public prosecutor’s office and the criminal police in Aschaffenburg inform the public about the current status of the investigation. To date, 250 references have been received. A large-scale resident survey is also being launched. More than a hundred officers from the Bavarian riot police are on duty.

Cold case from Wörth on Wednesday topic at “Aktenzeichen XY”

At the beginning of May 2022, officials searched the approximately 2,500 square meter forest area around the crime scene again. With the help of metal detectors, they find a knife that may be connected to the crime. A pendant with a scales symbol was also found near the crime scene. Shortly before the crime, Klaus Berninger had ordered a switchblade knife from a catalogue. However, its whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

Since the motive for the crime still raises questions, the investigators are hoping for new clues from the viewers of the program “Aktenzeichen XY…unsolved”, which will be broadcast on ZDF on Wednesday (June 14, 8:15 p.m.). The Bavarian State Criminal Police Office has offered a reward of 10,000 euros for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator.

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