With a newly discovered cell phone video, investigators want to track down former RAF terrorist Burkhard Garweg, who has been in hiding for decades. The recording apparently shows the accused on a site with vehicles in 2020, the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and the Verden public prosecutor’s office announced. The short recording shows the voice, facial expressions and gestures of the man, whom investigators believe to be Garweg. “Good luck with the exam tomorrow, dear Karin,” says the man in the blue tank top, smiling. According to the authorities, the now 56-year-old may have had numerous relationships with women. The LKA is asking women who had a relationship with him to come forward.
The new video and photos from another video were shown in the evening on the television show “Aktenzeichen XY… Ungelöst”. The woman named Karin, to whom Garweg sends a greeting in the cell phone video, is being sought as an important witness, said Martin Schanz, spokesman for the Verden public prosecutor’s office in the ZDF program. He also pointed out Garweg’s conspicuous gap between his front teeth, which can be seen in the video.
For many years, the Verden public prosecutor’s office has been investigating Daniela Klette (65), Ernst-Volker Staub (70) and Garweg for attempted murder and attempted and completed aggravated robbery. Between 1999 and 2016, they are said to have robbed armored cars and supermarkets, mainly in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, in order to finance their lives underground. The crimes therefore had no terrorist background.
Weapons, gold and photos from Daniela Klette’s apartment
At the end of February this year, Klette was arrested in Berlin-Kreuzberg, where she was living under a false name. During the searches in Berlin, the police found, among other things, a dummy hand grenade, weapons, handcuffs, balaclavas, a kilogram of gold, more than 240,000 euros in cash, digital media and photos. Shortly after Klette’s arrest, the police also confiscated the trailer in Berlin-Friedrichshain, where Garweg is said to have lived under the alias Martin. Klette is in custody in the women’s prison in Vechta.
The trio belonged to the so-called third generation of the left-wing extremist Red Army Faction (RAF). In 1998, the RAF, which killed more than 30 people, declared itself disbanded.
Trio is considered for further robberies
On Wednesday, police and prosecutors also announced that the three suspects are suspected of further crimes. They are said to have robbed the cash desks of supermarkets in Elmshorn (Schleswig-Holstein) in 2014 and in Osnabrück (Lower Saxony) in 2015. Garweg and Staub are also said to have robbed a supermarket in Löhne-Ulenburg (North Rhine-Westphalia) in 2009.
In total, investigators now assume that 13 attempted and completed serious robberies were committed, causing total damage of more than 2.7 million euros. The trio is also being investigated for attempted murder because shots were fired during robberies in Stuhr and Cremlingen. The former RAF members are also accused of kidnapping for ransom.
In a statement in mid-August, Klette denied having attempted murder and spoke of state “denunciation” and “media incitement” against himself, Garweg and Staub. According to earlier information, there are also arrest warrants against the trio on suspicion of involvement in terrorist attacks.
Photos of fake IDs published
The LKA also published fake ID documents that may have been used to rent apartments near the crime scene. There is a suspicion that Daniela Klette posed as Sarah during the crime in Stuhr near Bremen in 2015 and as Lucia during the crime in Hildesheim in 2016, it said. The landlords at the time are being sought. Apartments may also have been rented at other crime scenes in order to scout out properties. Blurry photos presumably show Garweg in a rented apartment in Hildesheim in 2016.
The former RAF terrorists have long been suspected of having robbed supermarkets in Leverkusen (2004), Celle (2011) and Stade (2012). A shot was fired during the robbery of an armored car in Cremlingen near Braunschweig in 2016. The robbers are also said to have shot at an armored car several times in Stuhr.
Wanted persons are said to have supporters in the left-wing scene
Garweg is said to have lived with a partner in an apartment in Berlin-Neukölln from 2008 to 2016 and then moved to the trailer park. There are also indications that he has repeatedly stayed in Hamburg. Investigators assume that the 56-year-old is still in Germany and has a “significant circle of supporters in the left-wing scene”. In addition, according to the Verden public prosecutor’s office, he is said to have attended a private photography school in Berlin between 2008 and 2011 and worked as a photographer for a time.
Rewards totaling up to 125,000 euros have been offered for information leading to the arrest of Garweg and Staub, said the spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office on “Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst”. Information can also be given anonymously. The State Criminal Police Office warns against approaching the wanted persons personally because they may be armed.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240911-930-229953/2
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