TV tip
Real Life Tough Dog: «The Killer Trail»
Heino Ferch (l) and Ronald Kukulies in a scene from the crime thriller “The Trail of the Murderers”. Photo: Martin Rottenkolber/ZDF/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Strong true crime from 2019: Heino Ferch can be seen in the role of the real police officer Ingo Thiel – the mafia murders in Duisburg serve as a template.
Heino Ferch has slipped into the role of policeman Ingo Thiel three times – based on a real-life role model. Anyone who has seen the first thriller “A child is wanted” (2017) knows that once Thiel has picked up the trail, he won’t let go.
In the sequel “The Murderer’s Trace” (2019), he plays the star investigator again – and just like in the first part, there is a real template: the mafia murders in Duisburg in 2007. Arte shows “The Murderer’s Trace” this Friday 8:15 p.m.
merging puzzle pieces
Anyone who knows a bit about criminal history will notice that the makers have allowed themselves an interesting trick at this point. The character Thiel has a real template, as does the mafia plot. But both together – that has actually never existed in this form. In Duisburg, Heinz Sprenger, also called “The real Schimanski”, determined in reality. Actor Heino Ferch explained the unusual constellation with the general wish that he would play Thiel again. “Therefore, everything was discussed with Sprenger, who also wrote a book about the murders,” he reports to the German Press Agency. He agreed – and came to visit the set.
In terms of content, the second Thiel case follows the logic and style of the first. The focus is on tracing the police work, putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. Also in the race against the walls of the German judicial system, for example on the subject of data protection.
Search for clues in Italy
The mafia murders in Duisburg in 2007 caused a stir because they highlighted the machinations of the ‘Ndrangheta in Germany. Six men from the Pelle-Vottari clan were shot dead in front of the Italian restaurant “Da Bruno”. The background to the massacre was a bloody feud between two families. Thiel follows the tracks in the film to Italy, to a dusty village that is clearly suffering under the yoke of the mafia.