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CRIME

Police hunt nationwide for young man suspected of killing 9-year-old

Police are now searching across Germany for a 19-year-old man suspected of killing his nine-year-old neighbour and then bragging about it online.

Published: 8 March 2017 11:15 CET
Police hunt nationwide for young man suspected of killing 9-year-old
An officer outside the scene of the crime. Photo: DPA.

The 9-year-old boy was found dead with stabbing wounds in the suspect's basement on Monday evening in the town of Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia. An autopsy on the boy must still be performed, but police believe he was stabbed to death.

Police were first alerted by someone who knew the suspect, Marcel H., who said they had been in touch with him through messaging service WhatsApp. According to the German version of Vice magazine, police confirmed that the chats had included a selfie of Marcel H. with the dead boy.

The chats then ended up on the anonymous online forum 4chan where the poster wrote: “A friend of mine wanted to plan his suicide, but then he killed his neighbour’s kid because he messed up the suicide attempt”.

According to DPA, it is not clear who published the chats on the forum. Police have also stated that Marcel H. seemed to be contemplating suicide.

Police had said on Tuesday that a video of the suspect had also been posted on the restricted access darknet network, but officials later clarified that what had been posted was pictures.

Investigators are now looking into possible evidence of another crime by Marcel H. On Tuesday someone on an online chat forum identified themselves as the suspect, posting pictures and stating “I cut my hand as I fought a 120 kg beast”.

“She put up more resistance than the kid,” the person wrote, according to police. “I tortured out of her the data for her bank, PC and phone, therefore I cannot publish the name.”

Police are now asking that anyone who knows of a missing woman come forward, but have also said that they cannot rule out that the new online posts were fake.

Officials have warned that anyone who recognizes Marcel H. should not approach him, but rather call police as he may be dangerous.

He is described as 1.75-metres tall, blond and thin, possibly wearing glasses with camouflage pants and vest.

Marcel H. is unemployed and believed to have been living alone in the house. The family was reportedly supposed to move and his parents were no longer there.

He also reportedly had little social contact with others, and was not previously known to police.

Photo released by Bochum police of the suspect.

CRIME

Nine face trial in Germany for alleged far-right coup plot

The first members of a far-right group that allegedly plotted to attack the German parliament and overthrow the government will go on trial in Stuttgart on Monday.

Published: 29 April 2024 08:32 CEST
Nine face trial in Germany for alleged far-right coup plot

Nine suspected participants in the coup plot will take the stand in the first set of proceedings to open in the sprawling court case, split among three courts in three cities.

The suspects are accused of having participated in the “military arm” of the organisation led by the minor aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss.

The alleged plot is the most high-profile recent case of far-right violence, which officials say has grown to become the biggest extremist threat in Germany.

The organisation led by Reuss was an eclectic mix of characters and included, among others, a former special forces soldier, a former far-right MP, an astrologer, and a well-known chef.

Reuss, along with other suspected senior members of the group, will face trial in the second of the three cases, in Frankfurt in late May.

The group aimed to install him as head of state after its planned takeover.

Heinrich XIII arrested at his home following a raid in 2022.

Heinrich XIII arrested at his home following a raid in 2022. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Boris Roessler

The alleged plotters espoused a mix of “conspiracy myths” drawn from the global QAnon movement and the German Reichsbûrger (Citizens of the Reich) scene, according to prosecutors.

The Reichsbürger movement includes right-wing extremists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic.

Its followers generally believe in the continued existence of the pre-World War I German Reich, or empire, under a monarchy, and several groups have declared their own states.

Such Reichsbürger groups were driven by “hatred of our democracy”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in Berlin on Sunday.

“We will continue our tough approach until we have fully exposed and dismantled militant ‘Reichsbürger’ structures,” she added.

READ ALSO: Who was involved in the alleged plot to overthrow German democracy?

‘Treasonous undertaking’

According to investigators, Reuss’s group shared a belief that Germany was run by members of a “deep state” and that the country could be liberated with the help of a secret international alliance.

The nine men to stand trial in Stuttgart are accused by prosecutors of preparing a “treasonous undertaking” as part of the Reichsbürger plot.

As part of the group, they are alleged to have aimed to “forcibly eliminate the existing state order” and replace it with their own institutions.

The members of the military arm were tasked with establishing, supplying and recruiting new members for “territorial defence companies”, according to prosecutors.

Among the accused are a special forces soldier, identified only as Andreas M. in line with privacy laws, who is said to have used his access to scout out army barracks.

Others were allegedly responsible for the group’s IT systems or were tasked with liaising with the fictitious underground “alliance”, which they thought would rally to the plotters’ aid when the coup was launched.

The nine include Alexander Q., who is accused by federal prosecutors of acting as the group’s propagandist, spreading conspiracy theories via the Telegram messaging app.

Two of the defendants, Markus L. and Ralf S., are accused of weapons offences in addition to the charge of treason.

Markus L. is also accused of attempted murder for allegedly turning an assault rifle on police and injuring two officers during a raid at his address in March 2023.

Police swooped in to arrest most of the group in raids across Germany in December 2022 and the charges were brought at the end of last year.

Three-part trial 

Proceedings in Stuttgart are set to continue until early 2025.

In all, 26 people are accused in the huge case against the extremist network, with trials also set to open in Munich and Frankfurt.

Reuss will stand trial in Frankfurt from May 21st, alongside another ringleader, an ex-army officer identified as Ruediger v.P., and a former MP for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann.

The Reichsbürger group had allegedly organised a “council” to take charge after their planned putsch, with officials warning preparations were at an advanced stage.

The alleged plotters had resources amounting to 500,000 euros ($536,000) and a “massive arsenal of weapons”, according to federal prosecutors.

Long dismissed as malcontents and oddballs, believers in Reichsbuerger-type conspiracies have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat.

Earlier this month, police charged a new suspect in relation to another coup plot.

The plotters, frustrated with pandemic-era restrictions, planned to kidnap the German health minister, according to investigators.

Five other suspected co-conspirators in that plot went on trial in Koblenz last May.

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