Sniffer dogs, DNA tests, research at arms dealers: The police searched extensively for a man who is said to have abused a student. How investigators finally tracked him down.
On the evening of November 2, 2020, a 27-year-old student is cycling through the Donaupark in Regensburg. A man, also on the bike, threatened the woman with a revolver and raped her. Then he drives away. The previous night there had been similar attacks on two other women in Regensburg’s old town. Both times the young women – also students – were threatened with a revolver. Both times, the man escaped on a bicycle when the women started screaming.
For two years, the police then searched extensively for the perpetrator, including with DNA series tests in which saliva samples were taken from more than 500 men, with wanted posters in several languages, with sniffer dogs and investigations at arms dealers. “I can say with the chest tone of conviction that we have pulled out all the stops for two years to solve this crime,” said Police Vice President Thomas Schöniger at a press conference in Regensburg. Now the police headquarters in Upper Palatinate can report a success: a suspect was arrested in Thuringia.
The man’s DNA matches traces found on the hand of one of the victims. The suspect is a 33-year-old who lived in western Regensburg from 2018 to 2022, the area where the woman was raped. The man has no criminal record.
With the help of the registration data and the matching descriptions of the three women, the police were able to narrow down the circle of possible perpetrators. Through voluntary DNA series tests, men were gradually excluded as perpetrators. However, a saliva sample was still missing from the man who was arrested now, since the 33-year-old had meanwhile moved to Thuringia. He agreed to provide a saliva sample in December. The Regensburg district court then issued an arrest warrant, and the man was arrested on Epiphany.
He now faces between five and fifteen years in prison for two cases of attempted rape and one case of particularly serious rape. The man is currently in custody in Thuringia and has not yet commented on the allegations.
“The crimes have particularly unsettled the female Regensburgers,” said Schöniger. “Especially because the suspect was out with a gun and threatened to shoot the women.”