Waltraud S. (51) was tied up in her apartment in 1993 and murdered Photo: Police
By Maren Wittge
Waltraud Ess (51) was murdered in her apartment in Bad Neustadt an der Saale (Bavaria). The perpetrators fled with 3500 DM booty and were never caught. Now the police and the public prosecutor’s office in Schweinfurt have founded the SOKO “Ess”. The investigations have now revealed traces that lead to the capital.
On the night of September 8, 1993, the manager of a Ford car dealership was attacked in her apartment. The masked and armed perpetrators tied up and murdered the woman. Except for 3500 DM they stole nothing and left the apartment untouched.
The Schweinfurt criminal police immediately initiated the investigation into the homicide and set up a 24-strong special commission. Despite intensive investigative work, no suspect could be convicted.
As is usual in all unsolved murder cases, the file in this case was never completely closed and was repeatedly checked for new investigative approaches.
The police and the public prosecutor’s office have now resumed the investigation and founded the SOKO “Ess”. In particular, innovative possibilities in the analysis of traces give the investigators hope.
“Interrogation protocols and traces from that time were worked through again“, says police spokesman Enrico Ball of the BZ This would have resulted in new approaches. There were indications of possible perpetrators with reference to Bavaria, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg.
“We saved every piece of tape and other leads for investigation at the dump. We never give up,” said the investigator at the time, Chief Inspector Herbert Then.