- Sweden: German dead - suspected of murdering sailing partner
The sailor rescued from the sea off Sweden's west coast on Thursday and later declared dead was a 71-year-old German. This was announced by the responsible public prosecutor's office. His sailing partner, a 64-year-old from Berlin, is suspected of having killed the 71-year-old. He has been in custody in Gothenburg since Sunday.
According to the public prosecutor's office, the two men were on their way home from a regatta in Norway in their sailing boat, a trimaran. About 25 kilometers outside the islands of the Gothenburg archipelago, passengers on a passing boat saw the victim floating in the water. Alerted rescue forces flew the 71-year-old to a hospital, where he was declared dead the same day.
There is a risk of flight for the sailor from Berlin
The investigating public prosecutor Maria Thorell said there is a suspicion that the man drowned. "Now we are conducting technical investigations and waiting for the autopsy report," Thorell added. The investigations are being conducted in cooperation with German authorities, as stated in the public prosecutor's office's announcement.
A spokeswoman for the district court in Gothenburg told the German Press Agency that the 64-year-old suspect from Berlin was taken into custody because there is a risk that he will flee, destroy evidence, or otherwise complicate the investigation.
The 64-year-old suspect is currently being held in custody by the authorities, as the Office of the Prosecutor in Gothenburg deemed there's a risk of flight. The investigations into the death of the 71-year-old sailor are being carried out jointly by Swedish and German authorities, under the supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor.
