Two girls aged 12 and 13 confessed to stabbing another of 12 to death in western Germany, police said Tuesday, in a case that has shocked the country.
The victim, named Luise, was reported missing on Saturday when she did not return to her home near the North Rhine-Westphalia town of Freudenberg. Her body was found the next day in a wooded area, not far from her home.
“The girl died as a result of numerous knife wounds and loss of blood,” Koblenz public prosecutor Mario Mannweiler told a news conference.
Two girls, aged 12 and 13, confessed to the murder, Koblenz police chief Florian Locker added.
The two minors “gave information about the case and finally confessed to the crime,” Locker said.
The two girls and Luise knew each other, the prosecutor added, but did not give further details about the suspects, who, being under 14 years old, are not criminally liable for their actions in Germany.
Investigators have not yet found the weapon with which the crime was committed, Mannweiler said.
On Saturday night, Luise had to walk back from a friend’s house. When she did not arrive, her parents alerted the police, three hours after her disappearance.
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