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Pensioner held for killing and dismembering wife

A 79-year-old man from the village of Nindorf in Lower Saxony has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his 72-year-old wife, dismembering her and leaving parts of her body on fire by the side of a road.

Published: 7 August 2011 14:35 CEST

Pensioner held for killing and dismembering wife

Photo: DPA

The burning body parts were found on Friday night and Saturday morning in Goldbeck near Buxtehude, less than two miles from the couple’s home. The man denies the charges. Police spent Sunday searching the home and the man’s car.

A police spokesman said investigators believe the murder is the culmination of a domestic drama that has been continuing for several years, but refused to add any details.

The couple lived alone and had one grown-up daughter.

The body parts were discovered by motorists who noticed the fires at the side of the road on Friday night. Pedestrians found the woman’s head, also burnt, and several items of clothing on Saturday morning.

A search was carried out involving around 100 firefighters, and several more plastic bags containing unburnt body parts were discovered in the area.

The identity of the murder victim was confirmed on Saturday night by police doctors. Relatives had reported the woman missing on Saturday evening.

Her husband was arrested soon after.

DAPD/bk

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Germany raids properties in bribery probe aimed at AfD politician

The investigation targets Petr Bystron, the number-two candidate for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in next month’s European Parliament elections, Der Spiegel news outlet reported.

Police, and prosecutors in Munich, confirmed on Thursday they were conducting “a preliminary investigation against a member of the German Bundestag on the initial suspicion of bribery of elected officials and money laundering”, without giving a name.

Properties in Berlin, the southern state of Bavaria and the Spanish island of Mallorca were searched and evidence seized, they said in a statement.

About 70 police officers and 11 prosecutors were involved in the searches.

Last month, Bystron denied media reports that he was paid to spread pro-Russian views on a Moscow-financed news website, just one of several scandals that the extreme-right anti-immigration AfD is battling.

READ ALSO: How spying scandal has rocked troubled German far-right party

Bystron’s offices in the German parliament, the Bundestag, were searched after lawmakers voted to waive the immunity usually granted to MPs, his party said.

The allegations against Bystron surfaced in March when the Czech government revealed it had bust a Moscow-financed network that was using the Prague-based Voice of Europe news site to spread Russian propaganda across Europe.

Did AfD politicians receive Russian money?

Czech daily Denik N said some European politicians cooperating with the news site were paid from Russian funds, in some cases to fund their European Parliament election campaigns.

It singled out the AfD as being involved.

Denik N and Der Spiegel named Bystron and Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections, as suspects in the case.

After the allegations emerged, Bystron said that he had “not accepted any money to advocate pro-Russian positions”.

Krah has denied receiving money for being interviewed by the site.

On Wednesday, the European Union agreed to impose a broadcast ban on the Voice of Europe, diplomats said.

The AfD’s popularity surged last year, when it capitalised on discontent in Germany at rising immigration and a weak economy, but it has dropped back in the face of recent scandals.

As well as the Russian propaganda allegations, the party has faced a Chinese spying controversy and accusations that it discussed the idea of mass deportations with extremists, prompting a wave of protests across Germany.

READ ALSO: Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

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