Romanian truck driver arrested in Germany, Austria killings

BERLIN – German police have arrested a Romanian truck driver suspected of raping and killing a woman in southwestern Germany last year and another woman in Austria in 2014.

Police and prosecutors said the 40-year-old man was arrested on Friday. Saturday’s announcement followed months of efforts to track down the perpetrator after investigators established that the same person likely committed both crimes.

Investigators used truck toll data to help track down the suspect, who they didn’t name. They say he has denied responsibility.

Both victims — a 27-year-old woman who was out jogging in Endingen, Germany in November and a French student whose body was found in January 2014 in Kufstein, Austria — were killed with an iron bar.

In the Austrian slaying, a type of bar used in trucks was found.