Woman 'killed lookalike beauty blogger' to fake her own death and escape family

17 January 2024 , 22:16

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Khadidja O., 23, was found stabbed to death (Image: Newsflash)

A woman in Germany is on trial accused of killing a lookalike in a bid to fake her own death and escape her strict Iraqi family.

The woman, identified as Shahraban Kh-B, was initially thought to have been the murder victim when the blood-soaked body of a young woman was found in August 2022 in a parked Mercedes in Ingolstadt, southern Germany. Several members of her family had even identified her body, but an autopsy report raised questions. The victim was subsequently named as Khadidja O, a 23-year-old beauty blogger of Algerian origin from Heilbronn in the neighbouring state of Baden-Württemberg.

The two women indeed looked very similar, so much so that the case was dubbed the “Doppelgängerinnenmord” – or the murder of the doppelgangers. Shahraban Kh-B is said to have tracked down her lookalike on social media and, along with her boyfriend, stabbed her 50 times in a bid to escape her family. Sheqir K, a 24-year-old Kosovan man, stands accused of assisting with the murder.

Prosecutors plan to question 190 witnesses in court and have charged the duo with murder following extensive DNA checks and the investigation of social media and mobile phone records. Neither of them has made a statement or commented on the accusations. Proceedings on the trial's first day today were delayed after defence lawyers said a fair trial wouldn't be possible as prosecutors had submitted additional documents that needed to be examined.

Kosovar Sheqir K, 24, in an undated photo (Newsflash)

Shahraban Kh-B from the city of Ingolstadt, Germany (Newsflash)

Sheqir K and Shahraban Kh-B allegedly sent their victim a message on August 9th 2022 offering her the opportunity to be in a video for German rapper Lune. Suspicious of the request, Khadidja contacted the rapper, who warned her that the invitation was fake. Two days later she got another message offering her a free beauty treatment.

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Shahraban Kh-B and Sheqir K allegedly picked up Khadidja from her house in a black Mercedes and made a stop at a woodland. Having persuaded her to get out of the car, "they proceeded to carry out their plan … striking her on the back of her head at least once, so that she fell to the ground, before killing her with 56 stabs of a knife", Veronika Grieser of the Ingolstadt state prosecutor’s office said last year. Police spokesman Andreas Aichele added: "Her face was seriously injured with the more than 50 knife stabs."

While prosecutors argued that it was not unusual for additional documents to be submitted after an indictment, the court has yet to rule on whether to suspend proceedings. The court is set to decide on this next week. The pair face life sentences if convicted.

Rachel Hagan