Consular officer suspected of murder – prosecutors intervene

The Berlin public prosecutor's office has become involved in the investigation of a German consular officer into a possible homicide in Brazil. A request for legal assistance to Brazil is currently being prepared, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said on Tuesday. Further information is currently not possible. According to a report by "Spiegel", the German has meanwhile returned to Germany and arrived at Frankfurt Airport on Monday with a scheduled flight.

The Brazilian judiciary wants to search for the German diplomat via Interpol. A judge in Rio de Janeiro ordered the man remanded in custody on Monday. Because of the consul's departure, Judge Gustavo Kalil said he should be put on the list of fugitives by the international police organization Interpol.

The 60-year-old was arrested in early August after the death of his husband in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. However, a judge ordered the diplomat's release last week. She ruled that the prosecutor's office had missed a deadline for submitting indictment documents. The diplomat did not have to give up his passport.

The public prosecutor denies having missed a deadline. She formally accused the man of murder on Monday, the day after he left Brazil.

The man is suspected of having killed his Belgian husband on August 5. The accused himself had stated that his husband had fallen from the balcony of their shared apartment after an argument under the influence of alcohol and medication. The police doubt that. Traces of blood were found in the apartment, especially in the bedroom and bathroom.

Based on the autopsy report, officials believe a blow to the back of the head resulted in death. Several fresh and old injuries were also found on the victim's body. This indicates that the man had been exposed to severe physical suffering both on the day of death and before, it was said at the time.

The police were shocked that the diplomat was able to leave the country. The investigators were "perplexed," Commissioner Camila Lourenço told the newspaper "O Globo". After the diplomat's release, the judiciary could at least have withheld his passport. "That would have made his escape more difficult."

According to “Spiegel”, the Federal Foreign Office was cautious. The magazine quoted a spokesman as saying that they had been in contact with the local authorities in recent weeks and learned that the German had been released from custody. For reasons of privacy protection, he could not provide any further information.