A 43-year-old is said to have extorted wills in his favor from older men he had met through an online dating platform and then forced the victims to commit suicide.
The suspect was arrested on March 10 and taken into custody for attempted murder out of greed, the Paderborn public prosecutor and the Bielefeld police reported on Thursday.
The man had been in a psychiatric clinic since the end of March because of mental problems.
In one case, a 77-year-old actually attempted suicide and was critically injured, the investigators said.
In a second case involving a 69-year-old, a passer-by became aware of the apathetic man sitting in a car and called the emergency services.
In the hospital, the senior then accused the 43-year-old.
According to the report, the suspect is said to have beaten, insulted, continuously humiliated and refused the 69-year-old for two days in accommodation in Hilter am Teutoburg Forest in Lower Saxony.
In the end, the victim made a will that favored the 43-year-old.
According to the findings of the investigators, the two men had met two years ago via a dating portal and since then have maintained a platonic friendly relationship, which consisted in particular of telephone calls.
Accordingly, the younger one also took over the regulation of financial matters over time.
According to the police and public prosecutor's office, a passer-by became aware of the two men in a parked car on the 5th and noticed the severely weakened condition of the 69-year-old.
He called the emergency services, which the accused wanted to prevent by asserting that his older friend was fine.
This came to a hospital.
In both cases, the 43-year-old is said to have taken care of the older men and then used various legends and pressure to force larger amounts of money and appointment as heir or guardian.
Investigations into possible other victims continued, the statement said.