“Aktenzeichen XY… unsolved” has been dedicated to unsolved criminal cases since 1967 – including so-called cold cases that date back many years. The ZDF program started long before documentary series and podcasts about spectacular criminal cases were known as “True Crime”.
The current issue of August 24, 2022 also features a particularly frightening, previously unsolved case that led to the death of a 40-year-old father in Hanover more than ten years ago.
A street attack resulted in a treacherous, agonizing death: the 2011 case, in its insidiousness and unlikely execution, ticks all the boxes of a disturbing crime.
On July 15, 2011, a 40-year-old IT specialist was walking in downtown Hanover, in the area of ​​Fischerstrasse/corner of Moorwegsgasse at the Bremer Damm underpass, when he was stabbed several times in the buttocks with an umbrella as he passed by.
Someone had converted that umbrella into a weapon. The tip of the umbrella, which the victim managed to snatch from the perpetrator, turned out to be a syringe filled with mercury.
At first it was assumed that a mercury-thallium compound was used, as was found in thermometers in the past. The perpetrator could have taken the liquid from an old device. But this theory is no longer up-to-date and the case becomes even more mysterious.
According to the current status, methylmercury was in the syringe. This highly toxic substance is much harder to obtain than the mercury found in old thermometers. This raises the question of how the perpetrator got hold of the material and how he was able to handle it.
As for the victim, the deadly effect was not immediately apparent. Only days after the attack did the victim’s health deteriorate – until the man finally became a full-time patient. After ten months of suffering, he passed away on May 9, 2012, leaving behind a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. About a year later, the public prosecutor’s office in Hanover dropped the investigation due to a lack of traces.
At first glance, the fact that it was carried out using an umbrella may seem reminiscent of a murder commissioned by a secret service. The fact that the attack is so incomprehensible is also due to the still unclear motive behind it. The victim may have been chosen at random.
According to a witness description published by NDR, the suspect should have looked like this:
The police in Hanover will take tips on 0511 109 2715 or by email to poststelle@pi-hannover.polizei.niedersachsen.de.
The “Aktenzeichen XY… unsolved” episode on August 24th will be broadcast live on ZDF at 8:15 p.m. and online in the stream.
