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Aschaffenburg Court Admits Murder Indictment in 1984 ‘Maria’ Cold Case, Trial Set for May

Prosecutors cite a confession alongside DNA on the alleged scarf weapon to pursue a murder conviction decades after the killing.

Overview

  • The Landgericht Aschaffenburg approved the indictment, with hearings scheduled from May 7 to June 29 across five sessions.
  • The accused, now 66, was extradited to Germany in September 2025 and remains in pretrial detention.
  • According to the prosecutor, he has confessed to the crime involving 19-year-old nursing student Maria Köhler.
  • Investigators report DNA on the alleged net scarf that points to the suspect with near certainty.
  • Police say he fled to Turkey in 1984, later re-entered Germany under a false identity to live about 16 years in Aschaffenburg, and can be charged only with murder due to statutes of limitations.