Woman accused of killing lookalike from Instagram to fake her own death
A woman accused of murder had initially been thought to be the victim before an autopsy revealed a spectacular twist.
A German woman has been accused of killing a lookalike she found on social media in a bid to fake her own death.
The suspect, identified by police as Shahraban K, is alleged in conjunction with her boyfriend Sheqir K to have killed beauty blogger Khadidja O, who was stabbed more than 50 times in the face. Her body was dumped in Shahraban K's car to make it appear as though she was the one who'd been killed, local police now believe.
The murder — which is being labelled the "doppelganger murder" by local media — was carried out in August last year in Ingolstadt, Germany, and investigators initially thought Shahraban K, then 23, had been killed. Her own family reportedly identified their daughter — a beautician of Iraqi descent — after finding what they thought was her body. A subsequent autopsy report "raised serious doubts about the identity of the woman" and investigators uncovered that the actual victim was Khadidja O, also 23.
An investigation led to the arrest of Shahraban K who'd been working with her boyfriend who's also been charged with murder, local police said. Investigators concluded she wanted to go into hiding "due to family problems", so they came up with the plan to fake her own death. Prosecutors say she trawled Instagram in a bid to find a victim who matched her physical appearance — and eventually came across Khadidja O who had dark hair and a similar complexion. The plan was to "kill her and place her in such a way that the corpse would be mistaken for the suspect," German police revealed this week.
"The 23-year-old subsequently began to contact women who looked similar to her via several social media accounts she used and to persuade them to meet her with false promises. In this context, she chatted with several young women," they said in a statement.
Victim was tricked into meeting before being killed
Shahraban K began speaking to Khadidja O, an Algerian beauty blogger, who lived about 160 kms away in away Heilbronn, local publication Bild reported. It's been said she offered the woman beauty products as a way to entice her to meet. On August 16, the suspect and the co-accused picked her up and drove her to a forest in Ingolstadt where they stabbed and killed her. According to the New York Post, the injuries to her face were so severe that she was rendered unrecognisable.
"The accused then continued their journey to Ingolstadt, where the body was found on the evening of August 16th lying in the vehicle," police said. The suspect's Mercedes was parked in a place "where it would be easily discoverable".
'Extraordinary' case stuns investigators
According to reports, Shahraban K told her family she was going to meet her ex-husband, but when she didn't return, her family grew worried and commenced a search for her. They eventually found her car and Khadidja O's body.
Police spokesman Andreas Aichele told Bild it has been "an extraordinary case that required all the investigators' skills".
"We don't have a case like this every day — especially with such a spectacular twist. On the day we found the body, we didn't expect it to develop like this," he said.
Sharaban K and Sheqir K, were charged with murder late last week and face life in prison if found guilty.
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