Overview
- Prosecutors in Rostock say the probe into the killing of eight-year-old Fabian could conclude in February, with one suspect under urgent suspicion and no additional perpetrators sought.
- Investigators report they know the method of Fabian’s killing but have not found the murder weapon despite multiple searches.
- In Austria a 30-year-old police officer confessed, led authorities to Johanna G.’s buried body, and remains in pretrial detention after two stolen service pistols were recovered; an autopsy is pending and the suspect portrays the death as an accident during sex‑choking, according to his statements.
- The Cottbus murder trial over the death of officer Maximilian Stoppa opened as the defense argued a prior Hildesheim judgment bars prosecution (Strafklageverbrauch), a legal issue the presiding judge acknowledged for review.
- Cologne police found a 52-year-old dead in a 19-year-old’s apartment and arrested the younger man after a tip; he denies killing the victim as investigators reconstruct a reported dispute.