German murder suspect with macabre tattoo detained in northern Spain

INVESTIGATORS working for Spain’s National Police have arrested a German fugitive suspected of attempting to behead his 20-year-old girlfriend at the end of October.

The victim’s body, with severe cuts on the neck, was discovered in rubbish bags in a block of flats in the town of Freyung, Bavaria, and although the precise date of her death has not been confirmed, a tattoo sported by her alleged killer appears to offer a major clue.

The freshly-inked tattoo gives the woman’s name, Lisa, and her date of birth in 1996, followed by ’27.10.2016’ and the Spanish text ‘Gracias por todo’ (English: Thanks for everything).

Agents also recovered the couple’s 18-month old baby “in perfect health” after the man fled Germany, taking his partner’s mobile phone with him and attempting to maintain her social network accounts in order to avoid raising suspicion.

He was tracked down to an aparthotel in Lloret de Mar, Girona, after German authorities issued a European Detention Order following a Facebook post in which the suspect uploaded a photo of himself and his son next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris on November 7.

The fugitive then appears to have travelled to Spain, where his bank card was used at a Tarifa hotel, in Valladolid, where he twice withdrew €500, and at tolls on the AP-7 motorway in Torreblanca, Castellon, and Martorell, Barcelona.

Spanish police have said they believed he was about to head for North Africa, and their official statement suggests that the tattoo “may be interpreted as the date of death.”

His Volkswagen Golf car has been seized for forensic analysis, while the infant has been taken to a shelter in Catalonia awaiting German social services.

The suspect faces extradition back to his home country and a lengthy prison sentence if found guilty.