For several years, the Phantom has had Germany's imagination and police force tied up in knots.
We knew she was female, and a criminal of no bounds. Her DNA has been found in over 40 crime scenes all over Germany and Austria - robberies, drugs, even murders. And "harmless" stuff like break-ins, car thefts. Her DNA was found on a toy pistol and on murder victims. She was everywhere, she was elusive, she seemed invisible. Even when her partners were arrested, they claimed to have no knowledge of her. She was the ultimate criminal. Entire police departments hunted her.
And then, they found her.
Her story? She's your average normal person who her neighbors would describe as "normal". She works in a company that produces cotton swabs. You know, the cotton swabs that forensic teams use for sample collection?
Yeah. That's what I thought.
Tonight, Germany is laughing about the phantom that never existed.
OMG. It's a cautionary CSI story about the importance of keeping sampling materials sterile before use. Glad to find out there's not some phantom killer out there snickering at us.
Posted by: cynthia | March 26, 2009 at 10:48 PM
There is a movie or TV show in there somewhere...
Posted by: Natalie | March 27, 2009 at 04:27 AM
Have you heard how they found her? I'm wondering if someone accidentally processed a "clean" swab, and found her DNA on it.
Posted by: Scott Raun | March 29, 2009 at 07:27 PM