The release of a suspect in the case of the acid attack on the Innogy board Bernhard Günther has apparently also to do with a DNA test. He did not bring the result expected by the investigators.
At the beginning of March 2018, Günther was ambushed by several people while jogging in Haan near Düsseldorf and was doused with acid. In this context, investigators arrested a 32-year-old man in Cologne a few weeks ago.
Last Friday, however, the accused was released after a decision by the Landgericht Wuppertal. The DNA traces that the investigators had secured at the scene did not match the DNA of the suspect. The confirmed Dorothea Tumeltshammer, spokeswoman for the prosecutor Wuppertal, the SPIEGEL.
Previously, the district court Wuppertal had communicated that there was no urgent suspicion against the man. Accordingly, there were problems in identifying the accused by Bernhard Günther. The Innogy manager is said to have recognized the man on photos submitted to him by the police. However, he had been shown images of the suspect already by private investigators. The private investigators had commissioned Günther on their own.
"Whistleblower is allegedly afraid of the consequences"
An identification in this way is "uncertain," the court said, because "the presentation of photographs of only one person recognizedly triggered a suggestive effect." In other words: Günther could have been influenced by his private investigators, which reduces the quality of his later statement to the police.
According to prosecutors, the investigators came with the help of anonymous clues to the track of the 32-year-olds. A witness reported on a lawyer at the investigators. On this basis, arrests were made in October and the accused was arrested at a sporting event. In the further course, the investigators are said to have tried to contact the witness for more information. However, the witness had refused. The source is "not ready to face a judicial inquiry," said the district court.
"The whistleblower is allegedly afraid of the consequences of knowing who he is, he is afraid of revenge," State Prosecutor Tumeltshammer said. In the interrogations, the accused denied all allegations against him. However, there are "many small clues pointing to his perpetration," said the spokeswoman for the prosecutor, "but on the whole, it is currently not enough to maintain an urgent suspicion against him."
Investigations continue
The accused had made in the interrogations statements that "allegedly not all were correct," for example, as regards his whereabouts at the time of the crime, "said Tumeltshammer. That would not be enough to continue detention, but the investigation would continue. In connection with the acid attack, there were already several searches of the police, the evaluation of the seized media and documents would continue, said the prosecutor.
According to SPIEGEL information, the accused has Serbian citizenship. He is said to have moved to Germany a few years ago, lived in Cologne and worked in a gym. A few months ago he is said to have returned to Serbia with his wife, most recently having lived with her in Belgrade. Only shortly before his arrest, he is said to have traveled back to Germany to participate in the sports event in Cologne, where he was finally arrested.
If the suspicion against him again harden and an urgent suspicion exist, said Tumeltshammer, one could apply for an international arrest warrant.