German mayor accuses adoptive daughter of stabbing
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Ms Iris Stalzer, who had recently been elected mayor of Herdecke, was discovered at her home on Oct 7 with serious injuries after the stabbing.
PHOTO: EPA
Follow topic:
BERLIN - German police said on Oct 8 that the prime suspect in the stabbing of a newly elected town mayor was her 17-year-old adoptive daughter.
Ms Iris Stalzer, who had recently been elected mayor of Herdecke, western Germany, was discovered at her home on Oct 7 with serious injuries after the stabbing.
Ms Stalzer, 57, has told officers that her adoptive daughter carried out the attack, police said at a press conference.
Ms Stalzer is receiving treatment in hospital and her life is no longer in danger.
Both Ms Stalzer’s daughter and her 15-year-old son, also adopted, were taken into custody after the attack, but will be released into the care of youth services.
Speaking at the same press conference, prosecutor Bernd Haldorn said the attack was likely due to a “family matter”.
Investigators say Ms Stalzer’s daughter raised the alarm to police around noon on Oct 7, saying that her mother had been injured in a robbery.
However, investigators quickly said they discovered “significant evidence” in the house which led them to focus on the children as suspects.
Two knives and some clothing were discovered in the house and taken away as evidence.
The initial reports of Oct 7’s attack prompted shock and outrage from across the political spectrum, including from Chancellor Friedrich Merz. AFP
