German Couple Confesses to Murdering Ukrainian Refugees to Kidnap Baby
A German couple has confessed to killing a 27-year-old Ukrainian refugee and her 51-year-old mother to steal their newborn child, Deutsche Welle reports.
On Tuesday, during a hearing in a Mannheim court, the defendants said they planned to kidnap the girl to pass her off as their child after suffering a series of miscarriages and unsuccessful attempts at fertility treatment.
According to the court, the Ukrainian refugees were living in a shelter in Wiesloch in southwestern Germany, where the young mother met the suspects.
The couple deliberately sought victims among refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, joining a group on the Telegram messenger to offer help with language translations.
According to the prosecutor's office, the motive for the crime was the couple's unfulfilled desire to have a daughter. The 43-year-old man and 44-year-old woman had long dreamed of a daughter. The couple already had four children, including a son born together.
In early March, the defendants invited the victims to a restaurant where they gave them a sedative. The 51-year-old woman felt unwell, and the suspects offered to take her to hospital. Instead, they drove her to a lake, where the man killed the woman by hitting her several times on the head and then throwing her body into the water.
The couple told the young woman that her mother had suffered a heart attack. They then went to the dam in Gokkenheim with the young woman and the baby. There, the man killed the woman, who was also in a state of drug poisoning, by hitting her on the head. The body was burned and the child was taken home.
The remains of the young woman were found shortly after the crime, and the body of her mother was discovered two weeks later by police divers.
The baby was found unharmed in the suspects' possession and they were arrested.
The court has scheduled nine days of hearings, which will last until the end of February.