After the violent death of a 14-year-old from Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, the public prosecutor's office has brought charges of insidious murder – against a 14-year-old. The teenager was also charged with attempted extortion in twelve cases, said Can Türkay, spokesman for the Hanover public prosecutor's office, on Tuesday. He allegedly dropped ransom notes in the neighborhood threatening to "do something" to neighbors or their children if they didn't deposit money for him. According to the information, the 14-year-old remained silent on the allegations.

Arranged to play

In Wunstorf near Hanover, the body of a 14-year-old was found at the end of January. An arrest warrant for murder was issued against the 14-year-old German suspect. The father of the victim had reported his son missing because he had not come home from a meeting with his peer. The two 14-year-olds had met to play. Then the victim is said to have been tied up and beaten to death with stones, as the prosecutor said.

Family and friends had said goodbye to the slain boy with a moving funeral service at the beginning of February. "We are all still shocked," said Catholic priest Andreas Körner, who had known the victim himself since the communion course, in his sermon at the beginning of February. Since the day the 14-year-old was killed, "nothing has been the same" in Wunstorf. Around 450 people attended the service.

The violent death of the student caused nationwide shock. Hundreds of emergency services had searched for the initially missing 14-year-old at the end of January. On the site of a former nursery, they finally found his body.

According to the prosecutor's office, an autopsy determined blunt force as the cause of death. The victim was innocent and defenseless, the investigators had explained. The boy did not expect that he could be killed by his playmate. The prosecution therefore continues to consider, among other things, the murder characteristic of insidiousness as given.

No evidence of bullying and quarrels

Both young people attended the same school, but belonged to different classes. There were no indications of bullying, the school explained. Also, there had been no dispute between the two young people before, the prosecutor explained. The defendant is in custody in the Hamelin juvenile detention center. He was arrested soon after the search operation and admitted to killing the classmate and hiding his body.

According to juvenile criminal law, the trial is to take place in a closed session before the Hanover Regional Court. It is still unclear when the process will begin at a juvenile chamber, said a spokesman. However, since pre-trial detention is limited to six months, the trial must begin in July at the latest. According to juvenile criminal law, the alleged acts can be punished with a prison sentence of up to ten years. Details about the background and the motif should not be mentioned.