German teen murders look-alike to fake her own death

A 23-year-old Iraqi-German woman sought out her look-alike on Instagram and murdered her so she could fake her own death.

When a body of a young woman was found covered in blood inside a Mercedes in southern Germany in August 2022, the victim was initially identified as Sharaban K, a 23-year-old beautician who lived in Munich and was of Iraqi descent. Some members of the young woman’s family even identified the body as Sharaban K, but a few days later when the autopsy report was published, questions arose about the identity of the victim.

The real victim is Khadidja O, a blogger of beauty with Algerian origin who lived in the state of Baden-Württemberg and was also 23 years old. The long, straight black hair, similar skin tones and make-up style make the two young women “surprisingly similar”, which is why the German press has referred to the case as the “double murder”.

Local authorities consider that the crime was committed by Sharaban K with the help of Sheqir K, a young Kosovar also aged 23 years. The two accused have been in custody since August 19, 2022, however no information about the detention had been shared until this week.

Veronika Grieser, state prosecutor of Ingolstadt, shared this Monday that “the investigations lead to the assumption that the accused wanted to go into hiding due to a family dispute and faked her own death for that purpose”.

According to local police, Sharaban K had contacted several women similar to himself through social media in the week before the murder, but he was having no success. Khadidja O eventually agreed to meet with the accused for a meeting that was supposed to be about a partnership with a cosmetics brand.

On the appointed day, Sharaban K and Sheqir K picked up the victim from his home to take him to the meeting. When they were passing through the forest that divides Heibronn and Ingolstadt, the accused duo invented a pretext for the young Algerian to get out of the car and stabbed her to death.

So far the murder weapon has not been found but the spokesman for the local police stated that “the victim was killed with more than 50 knife blows and his face was completely disfigured”.

At this time, the investigation is still ongoing and there are witnesses waiting to be heard, however arrest warrants were issued for Sharaban K and Sheqir K on the 26th and 27th of January. If the pair are convicted, they could face life in prison.