Shots killed by police officers
Poaching, faking a crime: further investigations are underway against Kusel’s main suspect
One of the suspects in the case of the deadly shots in the district of Kusel is taken away from the public prosecutor’s office in Kaiserslautern.
© Harald Tittel / DPA
The two men who are suspected of having shot the two police officers in the Kusel district have already come into conflict with the law on several occasions. The main suspect is being investigated in two other cases.
Shortly after the crime, it became clear that the suspects in the case of the fatal shots at a young police officer and her colleagues in Rhineland-Palatinate were already known to the police and judiciary. In the meantime, the investigations have shown that further investigations are ongoing against the 38-year-old main suspect. He was also once convicted in connection with a hunting accident. The 32-year-old has been convicted three times since 2018, mainly for traffic offenses.
The verdict against the 38-year-old was pronounced in 2006 by the Saarbrücken district court. Because of negligent bodily harm in a hunting accident, he received a fine of 90 daily rates of 50 euros each, the public prosecutor’s office in Saarbrücken announced on Thursday.
Hunting accident: Shots hit in the neck and chest area
At the time, Kusel’s main suspect had seriously injured a fellow hunter with a shot in the neck and chest area and in particular in the area of one eye. In addition, the man is said to have shot a deer in a foreign hunting ground in 2017 and then drove dangerously towards a man in his car. The case was dropped because he had an alibi.
According to the public prosecutor, further investigations are also underway against the 38-year-old – among other things because of a possible fake crime in order to get money from an insurance company. The man did not admit the crime, it said. In addition, the prosecution in Saarland has initiated investigations against him on suspicion of poaching – “as a result of the current events”.
Meat worth several thousand euros in refrigerated trailers
According to the public prosecutor, the officers discovered 22 fallow deer carcasses in the vehicle with which the two men are believed to have been at the crime scene. In the sausage kitchen of one of the two suspects, investigators also confiscated animal waste, it said.
In addition, 20 already eviscerated wild animal carcasses and animal waste were discovered at the whereabouts of a suspect in Spiesen-Elversberg, Saarland. In front of the door was a refrigerated trailer with meat packed ready for sale and worth several thousand euros. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the raids have not yet been fully evaluated. The animals are initially used as evidence. A decision on whereabouts will be made later.
In custody on suspicion of joint murder
In connection with the deadly shots at the two police officers in Kusel, the two men are in custody on suspicion of joint murder and poaching. The investigators suspect that the alleged perpetrators wanted to cover up poaching. The trunk of her car was full of dead animals.