A suspected murderer who is said to have killed a woman in Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg almost 46 years ago is now in custody.
After almost half a century, a fingerprint triggered urgent suspicion against the 66-year-old American, the Ludwigsburg police said.
The man was stationed in Germany as a US soldier at the time.
On June 11, 1978, the then 19-year-old is said to have killed a 35-year-old woman in her apartment;
with more than 30 knife stabs.
The new and precise unraveling of the “cold case” – i.e. unsolved criminal case – in 2020 brought new findings, the police said.
In the course of close cooperation with American authorities, including the FBI, there was, among other things, a DNA comparison.
The now 66-year-old suspect was arrested on February 13, 2024 and taken to a US prison.
The Stuttgart public prosecutor has requested extradition proceedings.
svs/dpa