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Forces have arrested a German in Portugal who is suspected of having committed a double murder.
The investigating judge has now ordered the 60-year-old in custody in the Azores, reports the newspaper "Correio da Manhã" and the TV channel CNN Portugal, citing the authorities.
A spokesman for the Portuguese criminal police confirmed this information at the request of the dpa news agency.
But it was said that no more could be said about the identity of the German.
The 60-year-old is suspected of killing two men who were looking at a property for sale near his home on Ilha do Pico, the second largest island in the Atlantic archipelago, on September 10 and have since disappeared without a trace .
Police say they are still looking for the bodies.
It is believed that they were buried or thrown into the sea.
But even without bodies, the police are convinced, based on the initial investigations, that the friends had been shot at the age of 65 and 74 – and that the German was the perpetrator.
Based on its own inquiries in the municipality of Madalena, the »Correio da Manhã« wrote that the suspect was known to be »violent« there.
In the past, he had threatened potential buyers of land near his house "because he didn't want any neighbors," the newspaper reported.
Two registered firearms were found on the man, but several weapons that were illegally in his possession were also seized, the Azores police said.
bbr/dpa