Woman, 3 children killed in Germany; husband suspected

BERLIN – A woman and three children were found dead at an apartment in southern Germany, police said Tuesday, and the woman’s husband was being treated as a suspect.

A witness found the bodies of the 29-year-old woman and the children, ages 3, 7 and 9, in the apartment in the Bavarian town of Gunzenhausen early morning, police said. The 31-year-old man, who was apparently the children’s father, was found lying outside the building with injuries caused by a fall from a great height.

“Under the current circumstances he is being treated as a suspect,” said Middle Franconia police spokesman Bert Rauenbusch.

He said autopsies on the victims were still being performed, but confirmed they had died as a result of “violent force.”

German news agency dpa reported that the family was of Russian origin.

In an unrelated case, a man in the southwestern Germany was convicted Tuesday of killing three people last year, including his own six-year-old son. The regional court in Rottweil sentenced 41-year-old Drazen D. to life in prison.

The Croat had admitted to shooting dead his ex-partner’s new boyfriend and the man’s cousin as they were celebrating the boy’s first day at school. The court heard that the defendant intentionally spared the 32-year-old mother because he wanted her to suffer for leaving him.