Serial killer from Bremerhaven?

Prostitute brutally murdered

Created: 01/11/2022, 5:03 PM

From: Fabian Raddatz

"Cold Case": Vanessa Wardelmann (left, 1992) and Anja Witt (1993) from Bremerhaven were murdered.

The police are reopening the case.

© Police Cuxhaven

The brutal murder of two prostitutes from Bremerhaven was never solved.

Investigators are now hoping for new clues from the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY ... unsolved”.

Bremerhaven / Verden - It has been almost 30 years since two women were killed in Bremerhaven.

But the search for the perpetrator continues to this day.

Now the police are turning to the public again: The case is to be presented on the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY ... unsolved” on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, 8:15 pm.

The investigators are hoping to get a lot of clues after the murder case has already been rolled out on the show.

Vanessa Wardelmann, then 22, was working on the street prostitute in Bremerhaven, even on the evening of September 24, 1992, when she suddenly disappeared without a trace.

According to the police, the drug addict is said to have got into a dark blue VW Polo.

Two days later, on September 26th, the woman's body was found in a small wooded area near the A27 in the area of ​​the municipality of Loxstedt - around 13 kilometers south of Bremerhaven.

More dead prostitutes from Bremerhaven discovered: can "Aktenzeichen XY" bring about a turning point?

Around seven and a half months later another gruesome body was found: Anja Witt's lifeless body was discovered on May 9, 1993 in a wooded area on the B 215 near the A 27 at the Verden-Nord exit.

The then 26-year-old also went to the street in Bremerhaven, was also a drug addict.

She too is said to have got into a vehicle on the day of her disappearance (May 8) - a red BMW 3 Series.

Witnesses had seen the car on the street in Bremerhaven.

Prostitute murder at "Aktenzeichen XY": Was it a serial killer?

At first, the investigators could not see any parallels between the two horrific crimes.

Only when the cases were pooled at the Bremerhaven Criminal Police Department at the end of the 1990s did similarities emerge: The two women were strangled - and the investigators are now certain: It was the same perpetrator.

With these phantom images, the Cuxhaven police are looking for the murderers of Vanessa Wardelmann (1992) and Anja Witt (1993).

© Police Cuxhaven

If a drug background was initially suspected as the motive for the crime, a sexual motive is now considered likely.

As it is said in a contribution from the ZDF series “True Crimes”, a suitor could be responsible for the deeds.

But the police do not rule out a serial killer either.

Progress in DNA analysis brings new knowledge

Thanks to advances in the DNA analysis of the sperm trace and skin particles found, new insights into the appearance of the perpetrator have been obtained, reports the head of the investigative group responsible for both cases, Rainer Brenner at "True Crimes".

The perpetrator could therefore probably have light brown to brown hair and brown eyes.

He may also have pale to medium skin color.

It is believed that the murderer comes from the Bremen, Bremerhaven area or the surrounding area.

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