The main suspect in the murder of a young German beaten to death as he walked home from his sister’s graduation on Sunday is an 18-year-old Syrian national already known to the authorities.
Twenty-year-old Philippos T. and his 18-year-old friend were attacked in the early hours of Sunday as they walked home through the German town of Bad Oeynhausen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Witnesses reported a gang of around 10 “Southern-looking” men confronting the pair before beating them to the ground and kicking them as they lay defenseless. “Southern” is often a description used in Germany for men of Maghreb or Arab origin.
Both victims were beaten so badly that they were hospitalized, and Philippos T. was induced into a coma, one he sadly never woke up from.
On Thursday, German media outlets reported that the main suspect in the case is an 18-year-old Syrian migrant who arrived in Germany back in 2018. He already has a considerable rap sheet, having previously been charged with property and drug offenses.
The Bielefeld police announced the suspect had been arrested at an asylum center in the town on Wednesday and is expected to be brought before a judge on Thursday.
The arrest was made following “numerous tips from witnesses and intensive investigative work,” the authorities added.
