Robbery murder of a German researcher and his daughter: three Germans arrested in Paraguay

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Volker G. after his arrest in Asunción

Photo: NORBERTO DUARTE / AFP

Three German citizens residing in Paraguay have been arrested in the South American country.

The men, between the ages of 51 and 60, were suspected of brutally killing archaeologist and musical instrument expert Bernard von Bredow and his daughter Loreena, chief investigator Hugo Grance told AFP.

Local authorities have not yet informed the German Embassy in detail.

Von Bredow and his 14-year-old daughter were found dead on October 22nd in their home near the Paraguayan capital Asunción.

According to the authorities, they were shot and the 62-year-old's body also bore traces of severe abuse.

The investigators assumed a robbery.

In 1975 von Bredow found a mammoth skeleton and the remains of an Iron Age cave lion in his home in Bavaria (read more here.) He exhibited these and other finds in a private museum.

Most recently he worked as a violin maker and restorer in Paraguay.

He was considered an expert on violins by the famous Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari.

Possible connections in the "Reichsbürger" scene

According to SPIEGEL information, von Bredow is said to have given one of those arrested, Volker G., four valuable Stradivarius violins into care a few weeks ago because he wanted to travel to Germany for a few weeks.

After his return, G. allegedly claimed that the violins were burned in a fire in his house.

The responsible prosecutor Lorena Ledesma said that the perpetrators had targeted the theft on the certificates of authenticity of the Stradivarius violins.

According to information from SPIEGEL, G. von Bredow and his daughter may have tortured them to get the certificates.

According to SPIEGEL information, G. was previously known to the German embassy in Paraguay for arson and extortion.

He rented houses in Paraguay.

The embassy will now provide lawyers for those arrested and has requested a detailed report on the investigation from the local authorities.

The embassy in Paraguay has been registering for a long time that more and more Germans from the "Reich Citizens" scene are settling in Paraguay.

So far there is no evidence that the three suspects also belong to this scene.

mgb / kim / dpa / AFP / AP