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German police discover more 'house of horror' victims

May 9, 2016

At least four women suffered abuse at the hands of a couple suspected of killing two other women, in what German media has dubbed a "house of horror." Police have received 50 tips and are pursuing leads.

https://p.dw.com/p/1IkjQ
Deutschland Ermittlungen zu weiteren Opfern eines Paars in Höxter
Image: Getty Images/A. Koerner

Police in Bielefeld said on Monday they had identified several more victims who at the notorious farmhouse of a man and his ex-wife near the town of Höxter in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia.

The 46-year-old man and 47-year-old woman have been in police custody since April 21, when they were arrested after calling for an ambulance to treat a woman with head injuries. The woman later died in the hospital.

Police later said they believed the couple killed and dismembered another woman in 2014.

The couple allegedly lured the women to their home using personal ads.

Investigators are now searching for more possible victims, including in the Czech Republic, where the couple had also placed personal ads.

Last week, a woman in the Berlin came forward to the police after seeing a picture of the Höxter house on television. She claimed to have spent time in the couple's house twice in 2011. The second time she was locked up and tortured before being released in 2012, police said. She told investigators she did not report the abuse for fear of further violence.

Investigators are unclear of the couple's motive, but believe the abuse was not sexual and had more to do with power and control.

cw/kms (AP, dpa)