Klaus Berninger was only 16 years old when his life was brutally taken in December 1990. The baker’s apprentice, who had only started his training in the local bakery a few months earlier, died from “sharp violence against the neck”, as it is said. His body was found three days after his disappearance at a destination about three kilometers away near the Michaelshütte in the direction of Schneesberg. A perpetrator has not been identified to this day.
On June 14, the officers of the criminal police hoped to get new information from a broadcast on the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY” – with success. At the end of the evening, a total of around 200 new tips were received. Most of them related to the Schneider catalog mentioned in the program and the knife found on Schneesberg in May 2022, as the police said. A witness was able to provide the officials with the catalog they were looking for, from which Klaus Berninger had ordered a switchblade before the crime. According to the police, this switchblade could also have played a role in the crime, it has disappeared. However, this is not the knife found at the crime scene, according to the police.
Further information relates to a person from his personal environment, who was already the focus of the investigation more than 30 years ago, the police said on Tuesday. There is no concrete suspicion, but the assumption that this person has something to do with the crime on December 20, 1990 or knows something about it. Investigators believe that several people are responsible for the death of the 16-year-old and that the perpetrators came from the victim’s environment, partly because the teenager was killed extremely brutally.
Berninger disappeared without a trace in the early evening of December 20, 1990 after visiting a youth club and a visit to the “Nachtfalter” pub. Atypical: The 16-year-old left his beloved Hercules moped in front of the pub. Three days later, two horsemen found his body in a forest near the small town of Wörth am Main on the Bavarian-Hessian border. The body showed signs of battle.
The Bavarian State Criminal Police Office has offered a reward of 10,000 euros for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator.
Watch the video: After more than 30 years, investigators in Indiana have cracked a “cold case”. DNA evidence helped determine the identity of the so-called “I-65 killer.” The man had murdered three women. He is also accused of sexual assault.
Sources: Police Bavaria, Federal Criminal Police Office
