After 29 years: Völklingen double murder finally solved!

After 29 years: Völklingen double murder finally solved!

An almost 30-year-old double murder case in Völklingen has now been heard in court. On December 15, 1996, a 51-year-old woman and her 40-year-old husband were brutally murdered. The alleged perpetrator, a 70-year-old man, is accused of killing the couple with a broken curtain rod and then setting the apartment on fire to cover up the traces of the crime. This resulted in seven other residents of the house narrowly escaping death. Despite the available evidence and photos of the perpetrator in the apartment, the case remained unsolved until 2024, when new investigations began by the police's "cold case" department, which ultimately led to a DNA trace.

The act was classified as particularly cruel. Prosecutors sought a life sentence for two counts of murder and seven other counts of attempted murder. Furthermore, a determination of the particular gravity of the guilt was required. The defendant, who has already been convicted 17 times for a variety of crimes, is pleading for acquittal. The evidence includes DNA traces found between the male victim's fingernails and traces of blood in a burned wallet. This evidence could be decisive for the outcome of the case, even if the defense finds the evidence to be insufficient.

Investigations and surprising twists

The investigation in this case proved particularly difficult because no signs of a break-in were found in 1996. This suggested that the victims and the perpetrator knew each other. The defendant made himself available as a witness after a photo of him and his husband was discovered in the apartment. However, during this interrogation he contradicted himself and denied having been involved in the crime. It was only when the cold case department re-processed the case that the investigation was resumed and the defendant was identified.

With the upcoming verdict on June 4, 2025, a process that has lasted almost three decades will finally be concluded, in which justice may yet be achieved for the two tragically deceased people. It remains to be seen how the court will evaluate the case. The senior public prosecutor and the co-plaintiffs have emphatically emphasized the gravity of the defendant's guilt, while the defense continues to raise doubts about the evidence presented.

For the family and survivors of the fire, the trial represents a long-awaited opportunity for clarification and closure. The case shows that persistent investigations and the use of modern forensic techniques can open up new perspectives even in old, seemingly unsolved cases, such as Saarbrücker Newspaper reports and the Rheinpfalz continues to emphasize.