Possible serial murders: Another death in Schwäbisch Hall is being examined

Possible serial murders
Another death in Schwäbisch Hall is being examined

Forensic officers are on duty as part of the investigations in Michelbach. photo

© Thumilan Selvakumaran/dpa

Two women are killed, both older and from the same area. A suspected perpetrator is in custody – now it is noticeable: There could be another victim.

After several acts of violence against senior citizens in Schwäbisch Hall and the surrounding area, the investigators no longer rule out another victim of the arrested alleged perpetrator in the immediate vicinity of his apartment.

Just a week before the alleged murder of a 77-year-old in the Tullauerhöhe housing estate in the south of Schwäbisch Hall, the body of an 86-year-old was discovered in the immediate vicinity. A possible connection is now being examined, as senior public prosecutor Harald Lustig said on Friday. However, this test is made more difficult: “The corpse is no longer there,” Lustig confirmed a report in the “Haller Tagblatt”.

The 86-year-old died a week before the alleged murder of the 77-year-old in the settlement. According to the “Haller Tagblatt”, she was found with a fatal head injury, but her death was classified as an accident. According to the public prosecutor, it was assumed that the woman had fallen. The “Haller Tagblatt”, on the other hand, reports that the emergency doctor assumed that the death was not natural. Apparently the injury was so high up on the skull that it could not have come from a fall. Relatives would also have pointed out the open handbag and an empty wallet.

Potential first victim already cremated

The police and prosecutors had interpreted it differently at the time. The woman’s body was released and then cremated. When the 77-year-old died a week later, however, they decided on an autopsy. Only then was the special “height” commission set up, which finally tracked down the suspected perpetrator. The 31-year-old arrested on Tuesday is meanwhile remaining silent. He is accused of murder and manslaughter.

“We are now examining the case based on all the documents that are still available,” said senior public prosecutor Lustig. Actually, so-called death investigation procedures, as in the case of the 86-year-old, were examined in such detail that third-party negligence could be ruled out. “But now you have to see whether you still go back to certain cases with regard to developments.”

Because parallels are clear: In all cases, for example, it is about older people, all victims lived in Schwäbisch Hall or the surrounding area, two even in the immediate vicinity of the alleged perpetrator, and all women were killed on Wednesdays.

The arrested Serb is said to have killed an 89-year-old in Michelbach an der Bilz last week and the 77-year-old in Schwäbisch Hall in December. He is also suspected of being responsible for the robbery of an 89-year-old man. It is also unclear whether the Serb is responsible for other crimes in his homeland. The death of a 94-year-old senior whose body was found in October 2020 in Schwäbisch Hall and very close to the dead 77-year-old’s apartment has not yet been clarified.

According to the police, the suspect had entered Germany with his wife and two children in early December 2022. He does not have a registration address in Germany.

dpa

source site-1