Arthur Greene
German police have solved a nine-year-old case after DNA found on a half-eaten sausage matched that of a man arrested in France over an unrelated crime.
In March 2012, a burglar who had broken into a house in the German town of Gevelsberg seemingly stopped midway for a bite to eat.
The hungry housebreaker ate half of a wurst – the German word for a sausage – before completing the crime.
It is yet to be revealed what type of wurst the burglar had nibbled on, though police have said it was a hard variety.
Now, nine years later, forensics have matched his DNA to a 30-year-old Albanian man who was recently detained by French police.
German investigators from the Nordrhein-Westfalen force said in a statement that the DNA pattern did not produce a direct hit at the time but that automatic comparisons with international databases led to a link later on.
The investigators were alerted after a DNA sample was taken by French police from a man involved in a violent crime.
But Schwelm police said the suspect remains free and he may yet escape punishment.
The statute of limitations on the burglary has expired, meaning he is not likely to be extradited to Germany if arrested.
The famished felon is likely to remain on the streets for the time being.
Picture source: Pixabay
