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Murder of Timo Rinnelt

1960s missing person cases1960s trials1964 in West Germany1964 murders in Germany1967 crimes in Germany
1967 in West GermanyApril 1967 in EuropeChild abduction in GermanyChild murder in GermanyCrime in HesseDeaths by person in GermanyDeaths by strangulationFebruary 1964 in EuropeFormerly missing German peopleGerman murder victimsHoaxes in GermanyKidnapped German peopleMay 1967 in EuropeMissing person cases in GermanyMurder trialsMurdered childrenTrials in GermanyWiesbaden

On 13 February 1964, 7-year-old Timo Rinnelt was murdered in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. The case led to the most extensive missing persons search in post-war German history until that point. In the month following Rinnelt's disappearance, a letter claimed that Rinnelt was kidnapped and demanded ransom, which, despite the efforts of family and police via phone communications, was never negotiated to a handover. After the kidnapper stopped responding, the case was archived. In April 1967, the perpetrator resurfaced after a local newspaper wrote about new developments in voice analysis. Over the course of a month, four new ransom letters were sent out, renewing the previous demands for money. An item of clothing dropped off by Rinnelt's kidnapper was found to have traces of decomposed tissue and under the assumption that the victim was dead, the investigation shifted towards locating the kidnapper. The same month, 26-year-old Klaus Lehnert, a neighbour and family friend of the Rinnelts, was arrested. Lehnert confessed that he had killed Rinnelt the day of his abduction on the same street he lived on and staged the ransom in order to hide the murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in August 1968, but granted parole in 1985 to live under a new identity.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Murder of Timo Rinnelt (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Murder of Timo Rinnelt
Wilhelmstraße, Wiesbaden Nordost

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N 50.0819 ° E 8.2447 °
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Wilhelmstraße 34
65183 Wiesbaden, Nordost
Hesse, Germany
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