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CRIME

German house of horror: bodies dissolved in acid

A family of five used a house of horror in Germany to cut up the bodies of two men they had killed – one stabbed with an ice pick, the other shot to death - and dissolve them in acid, before flushing the remains away, a Dutch court heard.

German house of horror: bodies dissolved in acid
Photo: DPA

Although the mother and two adult sons have been arrested, the father and adult daughter of the family are on the run – possibly in Venezuela.

In an extraordinary cross-border case, the Dutch authorities have been seeking help from colleagues not only in Germany, but also Belgium, a spokeswoman for Maastricht’s public prosecutor told The Local.

“This is a very unusual case,” she said. “This house of horror was just over the border in Tüddern, Germany – that is where they disposed of the bodies. But at least one was killed in Belgium and the accused family is from Holland.”

The first victim of the family, who she named as 24-year-old Alan Gergeri, said to be from Iraq, was stabbed to death with a knife and an ice pick in 2009.

Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that Gergeri had raped one of the family’s sons.

Two years later, Mohammed al Jader, another Iraqi, was allegedly shot to death by the family, after De Telegraaf said he tried to blackmail them. He was hit by dozens of bullets, the paper reported.

Although at least one of the killings took place in Belgium, the family took both bodies to their house in Germany where they cut them up and dissolved them in hydrochloric acid, flushing what remained down the toilet.

“We were initially following a missing person report, when al Jader was reported missing by his family,” said the prosecution spokeswoman.

“When his body was discovered, it had been almost totally dissolved in acid; there was hardly anything left of him. We also found remains of the other man – so we accidentally found two murders rather than just the one.”

She said that although international arrest warrants had been issued on the fugitive father and daughter, prosecution proceedings would continue against the rest of the family, with a trial expected to start in May 2013.

“It is very difficult to gather evidence in this case, it needs complicated forensic research. We are getting a lot from Germany and Belgium.”

The Local/hc

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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