A GERMAN woman accused of murdering a beauty blogger in a bizarre bid to start a new life has gone on trial.
In a case dubbed the “doppelganger murder“, 24-year-old Shahraban K has been accused of targeting the victim for her striking resemblance.
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State Prosecutor Veronika Grieser said: “We have determined that the female suspect had decided to go into hiding due to family-internal arguments.
“She wanted to fake her own death and start a new life,” the prosecution claimed.
The attacker’s family are said to come from a strict Yazidi community in northern Iraq, and it has been suggested that her failed marriage was the motive behind her faking her own death.
Shahraban was joined in court by her alleged accomplice, Sheqir K, 25. Both deny the charges against them.
Khadidja’s father, sat just metres away from his child’s killers in court on Tuesday.
He told BILD: “I owe that to my daughter. I want to know why my child had to die.”
Shahraban is said to have sought out women who looked similar to her through social media, and attempt to meet them through a variety of different lines.
Prosecutors claim that 23-year-old Khadidja had been promised free treatment at a beauty salon.
It has been alleged that Khadidja was collected from her hometown of Eppingen, southern Germany, and driven by the criminal couple towards Ingolstadt, Bavaria.
Prosecutors say that the victim was hit over the head with brass knuckles and stabbed 56 times.
They also said that the couple purposefully stabbed Khadidja’s face dozens of times in order to disfigure her and make it easier to fool a coroner.
When her body was discovered, the authorities initially believed that Shahraban had been killed.
Although her sadistic victory was short-lived after forensic examinations and a check of the victim’s tattoos revealed the dead body was Khadidja.
Authorities eventually charged the duo with murder after extensive DNA checks and a thorough investigation of social media and mobile phone records.
The pair were tracked down and arrested after locals spotted them driving about and they were caught on CCTV at a local pizzeria.
According to investigations, the two defendants are also thought to have given further murder orders.
Shahraban allegedly hunted down and paid a contracted killer 5,000 euros to kill her divorced husband’s brother-in-law.
While Sheqir is thought to have given an inmate at Gablingen prison, where he was taken after being arrested, a list of witnesses he wanted killed.
According to prosecutors, the list bore 13 names, and those with a plus next to them were to be killed, while the others should only be injured.
The horrific tale began on August 9, 2022, when the disturbed couple sent a message to Khadidja offering her a chance to appear in a rap video.
Khadidja became suspicious, however, and messaged the rapper they claimed to be representing – and she was told the message was fake.
Just two days later, the defendants persisted, and went on to use another Instagram account to get in touch.
Prosecutor Grieser said: “This time, they offered a beauty treatment which would come free of charge if their victim advertised it on social media.”
Police alleged that Shahraban approached an estimated five women on social media as she shopped around for her victim.
The trial proceedings have been slow – after defence lawyers claimed a fair trial could not be possible due to the submission of additional documents on Tuesday.
The defence lawyers have subsequently requested a suspension of proceedings, but the prosecutors have rejected their argument.
The court is expected to decide whether the case will be suspended sometime next week.
