The nightmare already started on Monday morning.
The body of a 24-year-old woman was floating in the Niehl harbour basin. On Tuesday morning, the next gruesome discovery. While walking their dog on the banks of the Rhine in the Cologne district of Worringen, 15 kilometres from where the woman’s body was found, a man and a woman spotted a dead child lying in the water. The walkers pull the boy ashore and alert the police.
A little later, the officers are sure: it is mother and son!
Which tragedy happened there on the Rhine?
According to the newspaper BILD, mother and son were stabbed to death. Was it the 24-year-old’s ex-boyfriend? The police arrested the man. On Wednesday, a warrant was filed for his arrest for two counts of manslaughter. According to the public prosecutor’s office, he is also the father of the child.
The murder weapon has not yet been found, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. Police divers had searched an area in the Niehl district of Cologne harbour the previous day. The urgent suspicion against the 24-year-old is based on the statements of the accused, the results of the analysis of mobile phones and the autopsy findings, said the spokesperson of the public prosecutor’s office.
The couple of Turkish origin had separated. The young woman had left him, most recently living with their son in the Kalk district, her ex in the Niehl district.
He has not yet been known to the police.
The man is said to have met with his son and his ex-girlfriend on Sunday evening at Niehl harbour. It is not yet clear why the meeting took place.
Did he kill mother and child because he could not get over the separation? The 24-year-old is accused of manslaughter. He allegedly transported the bodies by car to the two different locations on the banks of the Rhine and dumped them there.
Senior public prosecutor Ulrich Bremer tells BILD: “The suspect is making statements, but denies the crimes.”
