Politics

Mysterious Crossbow Killings Leave 3 Dead In German Hotel Room, 2 Others Found In Potentially Related Deaths

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German authorities said that following the discovery of three bodies mysteriously killed by crossbows in a Bavarian hotel room Friday, authorities found the bodies of two more women in potentially related deaths Monday.

A maid found the bodies of a man and two women with crossbow wounds to the chest and neck in a hotel room in Passau, a city on the German and Austrian border, according to the BBC. Authorities found two crossbows in the hotel room as well as another crossbow in a bag.

The 53-year old man and 33-year-old woman were lying in the bed holding hands while a 30-year-old woman “was lying in front of the double bed and had one shot from a crossbow between the throat and the chin,” public prosecutor Walter Feiler said a news conference according to BBC. Autopsy results claim that the man and woman in the bed died from shots to the heart and that the woman on the floor died from a shot to the neck, according to NBC.

The man was shot twice in the head and three times in the chest while the woman lying next to him was shot once in the head and once in the chest. Both the victims found in the bed reportedly are from Rhineland-Palatinate, BBC reports, and wills for both these victims were found in the next room according to NBC.

The three had booked a hotel room with a double bed and single bed for three days. A hotel guest told the BBC that the guests were “strange” and that the man had a long white beard and the women were dressed in all black. Authorities also seized a vehicle outside the building with an “FMJ” sticker, which the BBC reports is a reference to U.S.-made Full Metal Jacket crossbow arrows. Hunting with crossbows in Germany has been banned, according to the BBC.

The bodies of two other women were discovered Monday in Wittington, about 400 miles south from Passau according to BBC. Authorities say that one of these women was the sister of the woman lying on the floor, and NBC reports that autopsy reports are expected on Tuesday but that there are no external injuries visible.

“The corpses were found because one of the neighbours heard about the reports from Passau and told police that the letter box of the flat was overflowing and that a strange smell was coming from the flat,” Feiler said, according to BBC. Feiler added that authorities do not know how long the bodies have been in the flat.

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