Woman ‘killed her Doppelganger to fake her own death’
It has been dubbed the 'Doppelganger murder'.
A 23-year-old woman is accused of killing a beauty blogger who looked like her so she could fake her own death.
It follows the discovery of a blood-soaked body in the back of a parked Mercedes in Ingolstadt, Germany, last August.
Police first thought the victim was Munich-based beautician Sharaban K after family members identified her from the body.
But autopsy reports the next day led to questions about her true identity.
The victim eventually turned out to be Khadidja O, an Algerian beauty blogger from nearby Heilbronn, who was also 23.
The two women look strikingly alike, leading the case to be dubbed the ‘doppelganger murder’.
‘We don’t get a case like this every day, especially not with such a spectacular twist,’ police spokesperson Andreas Aichele told the Bild newspaper.
‘On the day we found the body there was absolutely nothing to suggest things would develop like this. The crime weapon has not been found, but the evidence is overwhelming.
‘The victim was killed with over 50 thrusts of the knife, the face completely disfigured.’
Detectives only discovered the alleged motive after Sharaban K, and a person named as Sheqir K, were detained on remand by Bavarian police.
‘Investigations have led us to assume that the accused wanted to go into hiding because of a family dispute and fake her own death to that effect,’ prosecutor Veronika Grieser said.
Several women bearing her resemblance were allegedly contacted by Sharaban K on social media in the week before the murder.
She reportedly arranged various meetings under numerous aliases with other women but these all turned out unsuccessful.
But Khadidja O did agree to meet, lured by what is understood to have been a cosmetics offer.
It is alleged Sheqir K and Sharaban K picked her up from her apartment on the day of the murder.
They then used a pretext for Khadidja to step out the car before allegedly stabbing her to death.
It is claimed the suspects then lifted the victim on the backseat of their Mercedes and drove to Ingolstadt, parking the car in a quiet residential area.
The pair will face life sentences if they are found guilty.
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