Disguised as a fatal traffic accident 20 years ago

According to experts, many murders are not detected. Even in one case in the German state of Hesse, almost the perfect crime was achieved despite a choker. Only one witness brought the investigators to the track. The case is this Wednesday on the theme "Aktenzeichen XY".

Twenty or so years ago, Adem Bozkurt died in a car accident in Hesse. At least, that's what it looked like – at first glance. Now investigate the police and prosecutors for the murder. According to police and prosecutors, the driver of the car, who was found dead in April 1997, was killed by a neckstroke – and did not die as a result of the accident.

A witness gave the investigators the decisive clue. The motive of the crime could have been business disputes with toilets in the motorway service areas. The investigators have now made public the spectacular case, they hope the evidence of the perpetrators. The criminal case is Wednesday (25.7.) Also in the program ZDF "Aktenzeichen XY … not resolved" to be presented.

But how could the investigators at that time miss a choke? Front view: Turk Adem Bozkurt, 45, was found dead on 4 April 1997 in Ober-Mörlen in Wetterau. The car in which the man was sitting alone had apparently hit a tree. The circumstances, including the injuries of the 45-year-old man, had alluded to a fatal accident. As a result, the investigators said: "We assume the offender used a small weapon," said prosecutor spokesman Thomas Hauburger. The hole in the bullet was only a few millimeters and was under the hair. The bullet was either stuck in the head or was leaking through the mouth. The bloody wounds of the victim may also have been explained by the accident.

At first glance, there was no suspicion of murder – only if there were indications of a third-party fault, however, could an autopsy be ordered? For the police at the time, what happened was like an accident. The corpse was brought a few days later by relatives in Turkey and buried there. Bozkurt, who lived in Bad Nauheim before his death, left behind a wife and two daughters

Exhumation in Izmir

This is only at the end of the year 2014, beginning 2015, that a witness reported that Bozkurt had been murdered. This had been initiated a thorough investigation. Witnesses were interviewed, the accident had been reconstituted once again. The results would have corroborated the suspicion. The body buried in the Turkish city of Izmir was subsequently exhumed in cooperation with the Turkish authorities. The experts discovered that Bozkurt had apparently been killed with a gunshot in the neck.

The investigators now clearly assume the murder. After the surprising turn in the case they had meanwhile already three suspects in the visor. Already at the end of 2016, they searched the houses and heard the three accused. However, there was no urgent suspicion that the men were to be released after the provisional arrest. "As a result of more in-depth investigations, some have also been conducted abroad," police and prosecutors explain. However, these have remained up to here without any resounding success.

The company with toilets in the motorway service areas was and is considered lucrative. Part was conducted with hard bandages – the locations and the money that could be earned in the process. The murderer had been but after the recent investigation not involved in a criminal scene, but were considered flawless, said prosecutor Hauburger. "It was a normal and decent worker who had a cleaning company."

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