Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
A brutal sexual murder took place on November 6, 2016, in a wooded area near Endingen in Freiburg. That afternoon, 27-year-old student Carolin G. from Endingen set off for a jog in the direction of Bahlingen, where she came to a steep wooded area at around 3:25 p.m. This was the last time Carolin G. was seen alive. When she had still not returned home from her jog after 6 p.m., her parents reported her missing to the police, who immediately began searching for the young woman with dogs and helicopters. Four days later, on November 10, 2016, Carolin’s body was discovered in a wooded area between Endingen and Bahlingen. The young woman had been raped and murdered. The autopsy revealed that Carolin G. had suffered a true ordeal until her death. In addition to strangulation marks on her neck, Carolin’s body showed numerous bruises all over her body. Her skull had been smashed by at least six heavy blows with a pipe or bottle. She had suffered massive head injuries and had ultimately suffocated in her own blood. She was probably unconscious when she was raped. One of Carolin’s running shoes was missing from her body and was later found by a passerby. Her cell phone had also been destroyed. After around six months of intensive investigation, investigators focused their attention on Catalin C., a Romanian long-distance truck driver and alcoholic, whose cell phone had logged in near the scene of the crime on the day Carolin was murdered. In addition, his DNA was found at the scene of the crime and his truck was seen by witnesses not far from the wooded area. Due to the overwhelming evidence, 40-year-old long-distance truck driver Catalin C. confessed to the murder of Carolin G., whom he intercepted as she was passing by the wooded area. He had parked his vehicle not far from there at a nearby restaurant. He had Carolin G. in a stranglehold, covered her mouth, and dragged her deeper into the woods. In a secluded spot, he continued to strangle Carolin until she was unconscious. He then brutally raped her. After the rape, he dragged Carolin down a slope before smashing her head with several blows. During the murder investigation, the criminal investigation department discovered that Catalin C. was a serial killer. In 2014, he had murdered 20-year-old French exchange student Lucile K. in Kufstein, Austria, in the same way as Carolin. His genetic material was found on her. Catalin C. had already been violent towards a prostitute in 2005, but this did not lead to a conviction. On December 22, 2017, Catalin C. was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Freiburg Regional Court for the murder and aggravated rape of Carolin G. Preventive detention was ordered with reservations. After this conviction, Catalin C. had to stand trial in Innsbruck for the murder and rape of Lucile K. He also received a life sentence for this. Thus, justice had prevailed in at least two murder cases.
