BERLIN — A body was stored in the freezer at a German "horror house" where a woman who answered a newspaper singles ad was held captive and beaten before later dying, officials said Tuesday.
German media gave the dwelling the macabre moniker after a 46-year-old man and his 47-year-old ex-wife were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after allegedly subjecting a victim to weeks of physical abuse.
Identified only as Wilfried Max W. and Angelika W., the duo were arrested after a 41-year-old woman died in hospital from blunt trauma wounds to her head.
Prosecutor Ralf Meyer told NBC News said Tuesday that the address in the town of Hoexter, about 50 miles southwest of Hanover, was the scene of a 2014 death.
According to Meyer, Angelika W. told investigators that she and her ex-husband "had put the body in a freezer and later burnt the body parts in a fireplace."
Those remains belonged to another wife of Wilfried Max W. — who was identified only as 33-year-old Annika E., authorities said.
Meyer told a press conference that the torture that lead to the deaths of the two women was not driven by a sexual motive, but alleged that the pair rather "wanted to exert power" over their victims.
Die Welt newspaper also reported Tuesday that a police unit with 30 investigators was examining whether the pair were connected to the case of 21-year old Frauke Liebs, who disappeared in 2006. She was later found dead in a forested area but the crime has not yet been solved.