30 years in hiding

52 leads received on “RAF pensioners

"They could also be your neighbors," warns the State Office of Criminal Investigation of Lower Saxony under the renewed manhunt for the three "RAF retirees.

(Bild: Linnemann, Katja (LKA Presse/ÖA))

There has been no trace of three former RAF terrorists for three decades. Murder and serious robberies are said to be their responsibility. Investigators are hoping that a public appeal on "Aktenzeichen XY" will lead to new leads: 52 tips were received before the start of the ZDF program on Wednesday evening. The police have promised a reward of 80,000 euros for any useful information.

The suspects Ernst-Volker Staub, Daniela Marie Luise Klette and Burkhard Garweg went into hiding back in the 1990s. DNA traces led investigators to believe that the three could be responsible for robberies of cash-in-transit companies and supermarkets between 1999 and 2016.

Up to 80,000 euros for tips
A new appeal for information in the popular ZDF program "Aktenzeichen XY ... unsolved" is intended to breathe new life into the investigation. It publishes old recordings of the "RAF pensioners", as they are referred to by some German media. "These could also be your neighbors!" warns the Lower Saxony State Office of Criminal Investigation in a profile. "They have been living illegally for almost 30 years, possibly in the same place for a long time, and are unlikely to be in regular employment," the police suspect. They are offering a reward of up to 80,000 euros for information.

(Bild: LKA Niedersachsen)

DNA traces led investigators to believe that the three could be responsible for robberies of cash-in-transit companies and supermarkets between 1999 and 2016.

Police fear further robberies
The crime scenes included Wolfsburg, Cremlingen and Stuhr in Lower Saxony as well as Bochum-Wattenscheid and Essen in North Rhine-Westphalia. The public prosecutor's office in Verden assumes that the robberies were not politically motivated, but that the three were financing their livelihood underground, which is why further crimes are possible. The ZDF program "Aktenzeichen XY ... unsolved" will be broadcast on Wednesday at 8.15 pm. It should also address the serious consequences of the crimes for the victims.

Staub, Garweg and Klette belong to the so-called third generation of the left-wing extremist RAF. The terrorist organization disbanded in 1998. The third RAF generation is accused of the murders of Deutsche Bank boss Alfred Herrhausen in 1989 and Treuhand boss Detlev Karsten Rohwedder in 1991, among others.