Herdecke, Germany, Oct 9, (dpa/GNA) – One day after the newly elected mayor of the western German town of Herdecke suffered life-threatening injuries in a stabbing at her home, her 17-year-old daughter is under suspicion of committing the crime, police said on Wednesday.
Iris Stalzer, of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), is recovering in hospital after sustaining multiple stab wounds in Tuesday’s incident, which drew shocked responses from politicians across Germany over initial fears the act could be politically motivated.
However, a private background to the stabbing was soon established, and police in nearby Hagen said the 57-year-old named her daughter as the attacker.
Prosecutor Bernd Haldorn said he was not demanding an arrest warrant, as the daughter made the emergency call along with her 15-year-old brother.
Both the adopted children were known to police. Neither has been questioned in connection with the stabbing, but they were in police custody on Wednesday. Two knives have been recovered from the crime scene.
According to the investigators, the motive is unclear. The head of the homicide squad, Jens Rautenberg, said family disputes had previously occurred.
Stalzer won the mayoral run-off in Herdecke last month during local elections in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. She defeated her conservative rival with 52.2% of the vote.
The lawyer was scheduled to take office on November 1. It is too soon to say whether she will be able to take up her post, said party colleague Klaus Klostermann.
Herdecke, a small town on the Ruhr River close to Dortmund, has a population of 22,500.
GNA