Short Story of the Phantom Killer in Germany

Once upon a time......this is a short essay of sorts....on a factual event....with an epic collapse.

Around spring of 2007, journalists from around Germany got into a hot story which had been talked about via cop circles for over a decade.  It involves DNA and a desperate killer of sorts.

In April of that year, a German cop who specialized in drug episodes around Bad Kreuznach.  It's not a big town or known for a lot.  The US Army had a big presence for years and years.....then started decreasing their presence.

The female was set to have lunch with a co-worker, in the cop car.  Events unfolded.....someone (probably two people) got into the backseat of the car, and shot the female cop dead.....seriously wounding the second cop (he survives but remembers little to nothing of the incident).

This turns into a high  priority episode.  DNA is found....goes through the database and is compared with other profiles.  Oddly, after roughly three months.....there's this match.  In fact, two different murder episodes, which go back at least a decade.

So starts the 'phantom killer' title.  Actually, the other name given was the 'phantom of Heilbronn'.

What the cops come to find within the DNA chase was this long listing of crimes across southern Germany, and to some degree....into Austria and France.  One murder episode involved three Georgian used-car dealers....found near a river in Heppeneim (Hessen).  Oddly, they eventually got around to two guys.....an Iraqi and a Somali....who were the killers of the Georgian guys.  But when they did a DNA test of the car belonging to the Iraqi and Somali.....there is this DNA from the 'phantom killer'.  So they think the 'phantom killer' had some involvement.

Reaction from the Iraqi and Somali?  No one says much.  It's like a mystery to them, and the cops are just shaking their head because there's some bad character involved in this episode beyond the Iraqi and Somali.

All of this leads onto roughly twenty episode of theft, assault and murder.....linking the DNA.....great distances apart.  The odd thing is that on one or two occasions.....there is a description of the person involved....a young woman.

So the 'phantom killer' is now being tied to a female of sorts.

This gets the FBI-equivalent (the BKA) involved in this as a national case.

Break-in's are noted where the DNA was collected.  There's a murder going back to May of 1993 where some gal was strangled by a strand of wire.  There's a murder in 2001 of a antiques dealer....strangled again.  Some cop recovers a heroin syringe which was tested for DNA in the Bad Kreuznach area.....yep, matches the 'phantom killer'.

Doper, robber, willing to use violence and mayhem, blood-thirsty killer, etc.

A break-in of a office in Dietzenbach in 2003?  Yep, the 'phantom killer'.

Records are building.....an enormous listing of crimes attributed one single person.

Robbery over across the border into France with a toy pistol used?  Yep, DNA identified the 'phantom killer' again.

Car thefts along the Austrian border?  Yep, DNA evidence identifies the 'phantom killer'.

Cops thought they were getting close to the killer when some gypsy guy threatened his brother....with cops arriving and arresting the guy and doing a DNA test on his gun.  One of the bullets in the gun?  It had 'phantom killer' DNA on it.  Just one.....oddly.  Yeah.....one of several bullets....but it only has that single DNA.

Somewhere down in Saarland, in a small quiet town....someone whacked a cleaning lady on the head, stole her pocket money, and left DNA.  'Phantom killer'?   Yep.

All of this lead onto a huge database and hundreds of 'hints'.  It was the greatest manhunt of a unknown character....ever in German history.

Then, one day.....someone accidentally or purposely sent a clean DNA swab to the lab.  It came back with the DNA of the 'phantom killer'.  That raised some questions.

You can imagine the room where this is laid out and some cops standing there.....asking some stupid questions.

So, they travel to the factory where the swabs are made.  They talk to the manager.  You see.....he wasn't aware that his swabs were being purchased by some company and re-marketed as DNA collection devices.  They walk into the back, and here are women carrying the swabs around the factory with their arms touching the swabs....leaving a small marginal amount of sweat.....and DNA.

The 'phantom killer'?  Wrapped up in five minutes.

The cop killer?  Still unknown.  Never solved.

It would make for a five-star movie script.....except there never was a 'phantom killer'.

The Acropolis

One of the highlights of my week in Athens was a visit to the Acropolis.  As a kid, I can still remember some brief paragraph in some sixth-grade history book over the structure....briefly three lines....and that was it.  Nothing else.  For some reason, it held some curiosity with me.

After visiting the site.....there are some bits of advice that I probably need to offer some advice.

First, allocate four hours for the hilltop experience.  The museum below is a separate thing and best for a second day.

Third, that refreshment stand that you see near the ticket counter.....is the only one around the hill.  So if you think you need water or a soda......plan ahead.

Fourth, the Greeks aren't known for safety.  There are plenty of spots on the hill to stumble or slick stones.  Railings aren't something that Greeks plan into projects like this.

Fifth, that ticket for twelve Euro that you buy for entry.....also gets you into the other area on the backside of the hill, which probably would consume another four hours.  Even if you don't go there for two days....the ticket is still good.  Don't throw it away by accident (like I did).

Sixth, if you make this trip in July/August.....get to the hill as early as possible.  Heat will be an issue by mid-afternoon.

Seventh, yeah....there are Greek authorities up there on the hill with whistles and monitoring your actions.  Doing weird poses or actions.....they will blow the whistle on you and hustle you off the hill.

Eighth, if you were thinking there'd be an escalator to take you up or some easier way to reach the top......well....no.  You walk like everyone else does.  If you got knee issues, you should have thought about this ahead of time.

Ninth, all those construction cranes?  They've been up there for years in a renovation phase, and expected to be many more years of renovation before they are taken down.

Tenth, the thrill itself.  Once you get to the top and eventually sit down.....there's this moment when you gaze over the amount of work and the centuries that have passed.  People were capable of building great wonders in a five-star way, and it still stands today.  It's odd when you look over some baseball stadiums that were built in the 1990s, and already in a demolition mode today.

Safety and Electricity

I'm a decent risk-taker.  On a scale of one to ten....I'd probably rate near seven.  But I always have this thing in my mind.....what if.....and this keeps me focused on doing things which aren't death-defying.

On this trip to Athens, Greece of the past week....I took the hop-on/hop-off bus, and rode it around Athens.

It's a marvelous way to see scenic landscapes, the old city, people on the go, and metropolitan Athens.

But on the top deck of the bus.....you tend to notice these electrical cables all over the city.  At best.....they are maybe six feet above my head.  And yes, they are loaded with a significant amount of voltage.  Probably enough.....to kill me.

For the first thirty minutes.....this was a continual thing that I observed.  Over, and over, and over.

As a kid growing up on the farm.....I was keenly aware by age ten of the remarkable listing of ways that you could accidentally get yourself killed (probably over a 1,000 methods).  Electrical methods were a weekly thing and you'd start to notice bad patch cables or hanging cables....commenting to the old man about this and that.  Sometimes he'd agree.....sometimes he'd just suggest to stay back a bit.  I was probably too safety focused at this early age.....to amount to a first-class farmer.  To be honest, I'm probably still too safety focused.....and worry too much about this for trips to foreign countries.

Folks around Athens apparently don't have too many worries about this kind of situation.  Maybe they've observed a good safe trend over forty years.  It's hard to say.

So, if you ever get around to Athens, and you have this safety fear (like me)......maybe you ought to skip the hop-on/hop-off bus.  Just a suggestion.

This Little NSA-German Episode

For months, this NSA-Germany episode has been brewing.

The bulk of the argument?  The 'evil' NSA has spied on Germany, and used Germany to spy on others. Naturally, a good bit of this discussion is tied into the election cycle of 2017 and slamming Merkel/CDU/CSU as much as possible.  It also helps in posturing a anti-US situation and develop this for future use.

So, this past week, the 'lie' story started up.  The German government (at least the BND, the German secret service) appears to have known part of the NSA business was going on, with requests for information.

The Bundestag asked if this was possible.....months ago....and was told 'no'.  Well.....that simply wasn't completely true.

Oddly, a lot of this intelligence help centered around economic targets....NOT Muslim radicals.  Most Germans wouldn't care if this was about some terrorist thugs in Germany.  But when you hint it's about German companies and of a economic nature....well, that's different.

The companies involved?  Mostly defense-related.  All occurring around 2010 (into the Obama period, not the Bush period).  They wanted names, email addresses and phone numbers.....of defense-related companies.  The BND complied.

What is curious here.....because the German press isn't really that bright on the issue....is this odd question.  What did the BND get in return?

Yeah....they might have provided this info, but they had to expect something of value in return.  So what was it?  Tax violators having accounts in Switzerland?  It might be curious to know what exactly the BND got, but I doubt if the German news media is that bright.  Why do I mention the tax violation thing?  It's an odd job where our NSA guy Snowden got his CIA start....in Switzerland.  Yeah, we seem to have forgotten what he did in his initial tour.

So, how many names ended up with the NSA?  Some people suggest 800,000.  I think the number is awful high and can't imagine that many folks working within the defense industry of Germany.

Here's the thing.....the NSA has to really trust the BND guys and hope they wouldn't lie about this.  But if you were the BND guy and really not feeling happy about this deal.....perhaps you might build up a fake listing.  Yeah.....fake names, fake email addresses, and fake phone numbers.  Heck, you might even create a fake bureau where you had people pretending to be these fake military industry people, and feed the NSA mechanism a tremendous amount of fake data to fill fake databases.

Maybe I'm on an imaginary game here, but it's hard to see why the BND would be this cooperative unless they were going to play out some type of game against the NSA folks.

The next step here?  The Bundestag hints that they'd like to open up a committee investigation and have sworn testimony.  You can figure the remainder of 2015 being used for this episode.  Surprises left?  It's hard to say.

Oddly, to whine or complain about this.....you have to talk about President Obama and his executive management over the NSA.  If they were deep into commercial espionage....why?  Did some company pay the Democrats to get help on spying into Airbus?  It opens up a number of issues....but only if some idiot journalists woke up and actually got aggressive.

A Big Bahn Strike Coming?

For a number of months, there's been talks between the Bahn (railway folks) and GDL (the union).  It's safe to say that they just aren't getting too far in the talks.  Based on comments by GDL from Thursday.....we are going to see some long-term strike hit on the German railway system.  No dates are discussed.  And when I say long-term.....it's looking more and more like seven full days of a strike.

Points at this time?  Railway worker wages are talked about to rise on 1 July with two steps.  Somewhere in this mix.....it'd all add up to roughly 4.7 percent.  A 'gift' of 1,000 Euro would be in the mix somewhere (same time period).  What the Bahn folks are saying is that it is comparable to those in civil service jobs.  From what the GDL union folks were originally suggesting.....it's fairly close to the amount they wanted.

The time business?  GDL had put on the table some talk of reducing overtime, and the general work hours.  Neither side now says much over agreements here.

I also noticed that GDL has asked for profit-sharing to occur.....which no one in the Bahn says anything much over that.  I suspect it's a 'no-go'.

What's really left here is this talk of GDL being the sole negotiation player over ECG (the support worker's union).....to incorporate them into GDL.  The Bahn folks definitely don't want this to occur.  Of all the points.....this is the sticking point which I doubt will ever be agreed upon.

The impact of a seven day strike?  It's an enormous number of people who now rely daily upon the Bahn to deliver them to school and work.  Just through the Wiesbaden morning trains.....I'd take a guess that 15,000 people are either picked up or delivered via the Wiesbaden station.  When you start to talk about Berlin, Stuttgart, or Munich.....it probably gets into 100,000 people moving just in one morning alone.

Then you start talking about vacation travelers using the Bahn.....going from one side of Germany to the other, or using it to get up to Amsterdam or Copenhagen.  Thousands have plans in movement each day and the Bahn is part of their travel strategy.

So this potential seven-day strike....would trigger a fair amount of chaos.  Enough to force the Bahn back to the table and give into GDL?  No.

Athens and It's Little Tourist Shop Empire

When you get into the heart of Athens.....there's probably over 300 separate tourist gift shops.  I sat across one for an hour....sipping coffee and simply making observations.

At best over an entire day....if a vendor was lucky....he make turn seven hundred Euro in sales, and generate maybe 100 Euro in profit.

How much of the stuff is made in Greece or surrounding countries?  Maybe twenty percent.  The bulk, I suspect, is Chinese-made.  I'd even question the statues sold (something every tourist wants to pick up for some gift).....on where they were made.

The vendors all want cash transactions.....easier to hide profits from the government (my take).

The quality?  It goes from one side to the other.  Some of the hats are one-star marginal items.  The t-shirts might last one summer season and twenty washes before falling apart.

If you asked me if there are simply too many tourist shops.....I'd agree.  They are trampling over each other and I can't see anyone clearing much of a profit, and they are clearly forced into 70 man-hours a week to make this work.  Most shops are open by 8AM, and I noticed a number of shops still open at 10PM for evening hours.

Associations using political power?  You start to notice various neighborhoods where the associations got political power involved and had the government pay for better streets and lighting.  Weak associations get little done.....so the district political figure is someone that matters if he can yield infrastructure funding.

Finally, as odd as it might sound.....this little shop industry has some influence over the revenue generated by the country itself.  What they sell.....attracts tourists, and tourists spend money.  Someone will buy the stupid Einstein t-shirts, the fake Socrates statues made in China, and the lousy two-star ice cream sold on hot days.

My Ten Bits of Advice on Going to Athens, Greece

My advice is humbly offered.

First, Athens by itself is worth maybe five or six days max.  Maybe you can add on a secondary trip (Crete) or just do phase two at some resort outside of town.  But don't get the idea that you need ten to fourteen days in Athens (it's a waste).

Second, if you got hip or knee issues.....skip Athens.  Walking is a big deal and most of the places to see.....require some climbing.  Wheel-chair folks?  Zero enjoyment, so don't aim for Athens unless you got some physical abilities.

Third, eat at places that Greeks eat at.....not the tourist joints.

Fourth, stay at a hotel within five minutes walking distance of the Parliament building in the middle of town.  There's probably a dozen such hotels and that's the best location to walk around at night.  Stay at four or five-star hotels.  Don't go any lower than four-star.

Fifth, don't worry much over crime or hoodlums.  If there are political rallies near the Parliament.....avoid the area. Pickpocket thieves are all over town, so you need to plan head on how you carry your money.

Sixth,  There is mostly nothing to see at the harbor, although the hop-on hop-off bus will run out there.  Other than viewing the million-dollar yachts.....there's nothing much else there.

Seventh.  Don't go in July/August, or November through March.  It's either too hot or too cold.  Attempting Athens in July?  Prepare for 95-degree temperatures and significant consumption of water.

Eighth. Sit down prior to the trip and read at least thirty pages of Greek history....it'll help to understand what happened and why Athens matters.

Ninth.  Sip lots of water throughout the day.

Tenth.  Using Metro is possible....get the all-day ticket.  But I'd strongly advise you to use the hop-on hop-off bus on day one of the trip to see the big side of Athens and grasp where things are located.

Radical Islam in Hessen and the Bike Race

Over the past couple of months.....a lot of effort was carried on in Frankfurt for the big 1st of May bike race.  Thousands of bike riders would have shown up and tens of thousands of spectators would have viewed the race. It was cancelled on Thursday.  Reason?  Islamic threat.

Cops raided the German-Turk's house.....found bomb-making material, connected the threat to the race, and also arrested his wife.

What the local cops will say (HR is the source).....this was a thirty-five year old Turk-German who was a chemistry student.  They won't say what school and it's odd that you'd be mid-thirties and a student.....but maybe more will come out of this part of the story.

This guy went in and bought three liters of concentrated hydrogen peroxide.  This is the kind of material that if you bought in a very small amount....no one would notice much.  Because of the three liters....the clerk asked questions.  The chemistry student responded that he was going to eliminate algae in his garden pond.  One should note....there are better choices (environmentally friendly) for algae issues available at a local garden shop.

For some reason, the clerk just didn't buy off on the story.  The clerk calls the cops.  No one says much over the clerk and his disbelief in the story.  You can imagine two individuals standing there.  In a normal American gardening shop.....the kid would have known nothing about hydrogen peroxide other than the price.  In a German shop....the clerk knew the precise usage, the amount per hundred liters of water to mix, the chemical make-up, the hazards of usage, etc.  The Islamic chemistry student wasn't dealing with an idiot.....this clerk knew facts, and just simply didn't believe the story given.

Clerk calls the cops.  Cops came....viewed the surveillance video.  The name given by the guy?  Fake.  But it didn't matter.....they had enough video apparently to note the car tag and place the ID of the guy.

Yeah, he was that stupid.....the minute the false name came up as a flag.....he was screwed....the cops were going to do a five-star investigation on him.

Two weeks ago, they started a surveillance against the guy.  I suspect part of the worry by the cops is that he was connected to a group involved in some threat activity from eight years ago (yeah, they had his name in their people-to-worry-about database).

Either through monitoring his internet activity or phone calls.....they came to put him, his plan....up against the Frankfurt bike race.  Thursday morning.....they raided the place.  Charges are being filed against both him and the wife.

My suspicion would be that they might offer him some plea deal to help the wife get off with hardly any charges.  Cops and reporters don't say anything about kids from the family but if they were.....they are probably within state custody at present and probably part of the plea agreement for the wife to walk out.

What this all leads back to? Radical Islam.  As much as this guy enjoyed German infrastructure, German laws, German economic conditions, German freedoms, and German educational opportunities.....he had a boat anchor around his neck and could not reach happiness.  Sadly, he couldn't leave, and his only reality was some fraudulent fantasy hoodlum behavior connected to a religion.

End of the story?  Well....the cops will look over his friends and acquaintances.....phone chats....and emails/text messages.  New database entries will be created, and new potential trails will be laid out.  The cops aren't stupid, and this guy probably left plenty of evidence for other episodes.  As for the bike race?  One can hope for the 2016 race.

In this case.....a smart clerk, and a couple of smart cops prevented an attack on innocent people.  The system worked like it should.