File number XY: Cold case from 1991 – who killed Heike Kötting?

Case with “file number XY”
Who killed Heike Kötting? Dortmund police reopen cold case from 1991

In February 1991, a 28-year-old woman was found dead in her bungalow in Dortmund by her parents. A burglar stabbed the young woman. The case remains unsolved to this day. Now the police are reopening the case.

The case of the murdered Heike Kötting has been a mystery for 33 years. The 28-year-old was in her bungalow on February 25, 1991 Dortmund-Scharnhorst was killed by a burglar.

The young woman worked as a decorator for Karstadt at the time. That evening she is said to have said goodbye to a friend at around 7:30 p.m. and headed home. The next day, her parents, who lived nearby, found her body in a small room that she was using as a sewing room. She was stabbed, but the officers did not find a murder weapon.

However, the investigators are certain: the perpetrator must have had local knowledge. Entry into the bungalow was through a light shaft that was not in the immediate vicinity of the house at the back. Using a chisel, he fought his way from door to door until he finally reached the stairwell that led to the ground floor. He also tore the telephone cables out of the wall.

Heike Kötting case in “Case number XY”

He probably surprised the woman when she came home and wanted to put the bags in the small room. The police also suspect that the perpetrator and victim knew each other and that the perpetrator knew that Heike Kötting had a large amount of cash at home.

After the crime, he fled in the woman’s red Ford Fiesta. He was found three days after the crime at a rest stop on the Paris – Orleans motorway, on the A10. The tank was drained, the license plates were removed, the car itself was meticulously cleaned. No traces were later found in the house or on the car.

To date, the crime has not been solved. The investigators are now making a new attempt. The case will be broadcast next week on Wednesday (January 17th at 8:15 p.m.) on the ZDF program “File number “XY” will be rolled up. In addition, a reward of 5,000 euros has been offered for information that contributes to solving the case.

Watch the video above: In February 2007, flight attendant Claudia Knapp was found dead by her son in their apartment in Velbert, North Rhine-Westphalia. The search for the perpetrator comes to nothing. 16 years later, the investigators can apparently clarify the cold case.

Sources:North Rhine-Westphalia Police, nrz.de