DNA analysis traces killer of German couple 11 years ago

DNA analysis led to the arrest of a 67-year-old suspect linked to the murder of a German couple near Warsaw more than 11 years ago, Warsaw prosecutors told dpa on Friday.

The couple in their sixties, had been travelling through Poland on their way to Ukraine driving a minivan, died from gunshot wounds in a complex of small garden plots near the Polish capital in May 2012, knife wounds were also found on the man.

DNA traces were found at the crime scene, a spokesman for the prosecutors, Szymon Banna, said, the suspect is currently in prison serving a sentence for shooting at his son.

As there were no witnesses at the remote crime scene, the killer could not be traced, and the case was dropped in 2013.

“Meticulous recovery of traces and evidence at the scene by the police officers allowed renewed investigation and extraction of biological material using the latest investigation methods in the forensic laboratory of Warsaw police headquarters years later,’’ prosecutors said.

The man has been charged with the murder of the German couple, aged 61 and 62 respectively.

The motive for the double murder remains unclear.