'Doppelganger murder': German woman, 23, accused of killing lookalike in bid to fake death
31 January 2023, 14:23 | Updated: 31 January 2023, 14:55
A German-Iraqi woman, 23, has been accused of seeking out a lookalike on social media and murdering in order to fake her own death.
Authorities say Sharaban K, a beautician from Munich, searched online for women who closely resembled her before killing one of them so as to go into hiding, according to reports in Germany.
Police first found a blood-covered body in August 2022 in a parked car in Ingolstadt, in the south of the country.
But though some members of Sharaban K’s family had identified the body, an autopsy raised questions about its true identity.
The victim was eventually named as Khadidja O, 23, a beauty blogger from Heilbronn in the neighbouring state of Baden-Wurttemberg.
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Police later said the women looked "strikingly alike", leading the case to be referred to as the "doppelganger murder".
Police spokesperson Andreas Aichele told the German newspaper Bild: "We don’t get a case like this every day, especially not with such a spectacular twist,"
"On the day we found the body there was absolutely nothing to suggest things would develop like this. The crime weapon has not been found, but the evidence is overwhelming.
"The victim was killed with over 50 thrusts of the knife, the face completely disfigured."
On August 19, Bavarian police detained Sharaban K and a friend accused of plotting the scheme.
As is customary in the German legal system, the suspect and others involved in the case are referred to by their first names and the last initial.
Until this week, the full extent of the case and the alleged motives of the pair were not publicly disclosed by authorities.
It has now emerged that prosecutors believe Sharaban K wanted to go into hiding because of a family dispute.
Veronika Grieser, of the Ingolstadt state prosecutor's office, said on Monday morning: "Investigations have led us to assume that the accused wanted to go into hiding because of a family dispute and fake her own death to that effect."
Police say several women who resembled her had been contacted by Sharaban K, who operated on social media under various aliases, in the week before the alleged murder.
“By making various promises she tried to bring about meetings, which was initially unsuccessful,” Ms Grieser said.
Though many of these attempts proved to be unsuccessful, eventually Sharaban K managed to set up a meeting with Khadidja, who was lured by what is understood to have been a "cosmetics offer", authorities allege.
It's alleged Sharaban K and Sheqir K picked up the woman from her flat and took her to a forested area before stabbing her to death.
Both women face life in prison if convicted.
