A man has reportedly confessed to murdering his ex-girlfriend after she broke up with him.
Dennis Holstein, 26, allegedly killed 25-year-old Pia Stelzer as she was coming home from a fair on August 27 and then hid her corpse in a bush in western Germany's state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The geriatric nurse was reported missing before her body was found at roughly 4am on August 30.
The pair lived in the same building in Greven-Reckenfeld, in the city of Munster, where Holstein had moved from the town of Bramsche in Lower Saxony around four years ago.
According to local media, Pia bought her first apartment in the area in 2021.
Pia had reportedly moved into the place with her ex-boyfriend, but they broke up after repeated arguments.
One of their neighbours said: "In the beginning they were together a lot and always held hands. But at some point Pia was mostly back in her own apartment."
They were reportedly back together at one point but dated only for a month before she separated with him again.
The break-up apparently left Holstein, who was still Pia's neighbour, devastated.
However, the two were still in touch, as he reportedly got a voice message from her on the evening before her disappearance saying she would be "coming back from the fair in a minute on the train."
The neighbour said Dennis had left with the car to pick her up.
That is when the young woman went missing, according to local media outlets.
During police interrogations, Holstein reportedly admitted to the murder and led the officers to the place where he had disposed of Pia's body.
An autopsy revealed strangulation marks and cuts on the victim's neck.
Holstein had been arrested for manslaughter on the request of the Munster Public Prosecutor and will be awaiting his trial date.
