German woman killed her doppelganger to fake her own death, police say
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German parents thought the worst case scenario was happening when they were searching for their missing daughter and found her dead with stab wounds in a car.
Except the person they found dead wasn’t their daughter, police said, but someone that looked like her. Now, their daughter is suspecting of killing the woman in an attempt to fake her own death.
The strange case began in August when the couple went from Munich to the city of Ingolstadt to find their daughter, a German-Iraqi woman identified by German media outlet Bild as Shahraban K.
On the night of Aug. 16, the parents found the body they believed to be their daughter in a car.
Police said in a statement responding officers attempts to resuscitate the woman were unsuccessful, and she was ruled to be a “victim of a violent crime.”
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‘Massive doubts’
The day after police released their initial statement, police said the emergency doctor could only determine the death of the woman and forensic comparisons raised “massive doubts” about the identity of the woman killed.
When investigating the woman’s identity, several witnesses sent in tips to police about the death, and on the night of Aug. 17, authorities arrested a 23-year-old German-Iraqi woman “who was initially named as having been killed” on suspicion of homicide.
A 23-year-old Kosovan man was also arrested.
“The body found on 16.08.22 was also a 23-year-old woman who lived in another federal state and looked strikingly similar to the 23-year-old who was arrested now,” police said.
Woman attempts to fake her own death
Police gave an update on the case Monday, adding investigators determined the suspect wanted to go in hiding and fake her death due to family problems.
“The suspects came up with the plan to search online for a woman who looked similar to the German-Iraqi woman, kill her and place her in such a way that the corpse would be mistaken for the suspect,” authorities said.
The suspect met the victim on social media and persuaded her to meet “with false promises,” police said. The two suspects drove to the victim’s home on Aug. 16 and picked her up.
Authorities said the victim was then lured out of the vehicle and killed in a wooded area with multiple stab wounds. The suspects then placed the victim’s body in the car and drove it to Ingolstadt, where it was found that evening.
The suspects have remained in custody since their arrest in August, and prosecutors have issued warrants on the suspicion of murder.
Police said the investigation into the case remains ongoing.
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.