© Getty Images/Marcel Kusch/StringerForensic experts arriving to secure evidences at a house in Hoexter, northwestern Germany, where a man and his ex-wife are suspected of having kidnapped, abused and killed 2 women.
A 46-year-old named only as Wilfried W due to strict German privacy laws, has denied wrongdoing but his ex-wife, 47-year-old Angelika B, is reported to have confessed to one charge of manslaughter, saying she had been under her ex-husband's spell at the time.
The couple were arrested after a 41-year-old woman, named as Susanne F, died from blunt trauma wounds to the head. Wilfried and Angelika had reportedly been driving the badly-injured woman home when their car broke down.
As they waited for a taxi, Susanna's condition deteriorated and she died in hospital, her injuries arousing suspicion ."There was serious physical abuse - beating, being chained to a radiator, having to sleep on a cold floor," said prosecutor RalfMeyer.
The couple are also suspected of killing and dismembering a 33-year-old woman called Annika W, who responded to a lonely hearts ad and moved into the house in 2013. Annika died of her injuries on 1 August 2014. Meyer added that Angelika told investigators when Annika died she and Wilfriend "put the body in a freezer and later burnt the body parts in a fireplace."
The house, in the small town of Hoexter on the borders of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, is being dubbed the "house of horrors" by the German media.
Police believe at least one other woman may have been killed by the couple and found evidence of the torture of other women. They believe the couple's primary motivation was power rather than sexual gratification.
Comment: See also: