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CRIME

Herne child murder case: What we know and don’t know

Police on Thursday night arrested the 19-year-old suspect behind the murder of a nine-year-old boy - leading them to the discovery of yet another body. Here's what we know so far.

Published: 10 March 2017 09:32 CET
Herne child murder case: What we know and don't know
A wanted poster for the suspect, Marcel H. Photo: DPA.

The gruesome discovery of nine-year-old Jaden, stabbed to death in Marcel H.'s basement on Monday, launched a nationwide search for the suspect, who police said could be contemplating further crimes.

Disturbing potential evidence emerged online, including a selfie appearing to depict the bloody suspect with the boy's body, and an audio message purporting to be the suspect describing the act in a “cold-blooded” manner, as police described.

After he turned himself in, the suspect gave police information that led them to find yet another victim.

What we know

The crime: The lawyer for Jaden's family said that their neighbour, Marcel H., lured the little boy over under a false pretext, the boy's brother noting it was to help hold a ladder.

Images of the suspect emerged online, and an internet user alerted police, who then found the boy stabbed to death in the basement. At about the same time as the police discovery, Jaden's stepfather arrived at the scene to look for the boy.

The arrest: Marcel H. was described by police at the beginning of the search to be potentially dangerous. Authorities received more than 1,400 tips over the course of the days-long hunt.

The suspect on Thursday went to a food stand and said: “I am the one they're looking for, please call the police”. Police were then able to arrest him.

Once in custody, Marcel H. told officers about a fire at a home nearby. There police found a dead male body.

What we don't know

The motive: The suspect was previously not known to police as a criminal. Police have described him as a loner who had little social contact with others. But so far police have not stated a potential motive.

They have also said that he was potentially suicidal. 

The online evidence: Police at first described the images posted online that led to the boy's discovery as being posted on the darknet. They later told reporters that someone who had been chatting with the suspect through messaging service WhatsApp had contacted them. These chats and images then somehow ended up on the online forum 4chan, as reported by Vice.

The online posts included the selfie of the suspect with a body.

Later someone online posted in a chat forum that they were Marcel H. and described fighting and torturing a woman to get her bank details. Police are still investigating whether these messages were indeed from Marcel H.

Then an audio message was posted online – on Facebook, according to Die Welt – also claiming to be from Marcel H. and describing the murder of Jaden. Police described the account as “cold-blooded”. And while they presume the message came from the suspect, police are not yet certain.

The second body: Police have not yet released details about the body found on Thursday, as of Friday morning. Nor have they said how the person could be connected to Marcel H.

CRIME

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

A 17-year-old has turned himself in to police in Germany after an attack on a lawmaker that the country's leaders decried as a threat to democracy.

Published: 5 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

The teenager reported to police in the eastern city of Dresden early Sunday morning and said he was “the perpetrator who had knocked down the SPD politician”, police said in a statement.

Matthias Ecke, 41, European parliament lawmaker for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), was set upon by four attackers as he put up EU election posters in Dresden on Friday night, according to police.

Ecke was “seriously injured” and required an operation after the attack, his party said.

Scholz on Saturday condemned the attack as a threat to democracy.

“We must never accept such acts of violence,” he said.

Ecke, who is head of the SPD’s European election list in the Saxony region, was just the latest political target to be attacked in Germany.

Police said a 28-year-old man putting up posters for the Greens had been “punched” and “kicked” earlier in the evening on the same Dresden street.

Last week two Greens deputies were abused while campaigning in Essen in western Germany and another was surrounded by dozens of demonstrators in her car in the east of the country.

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but less than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

A group of activists against the far right has called for demonstrations against the attack on Ecke in Dresden and Berlin on Sunday, Der Spiegel magazine said.

According to the Tagesspiegel newspaper, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is planning to call a special conference with Germany’s regional interior ministers next week to address violence against politicians.

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