A man has been arrested after a severed head was left on the steps of a court building in Germany.
Police were alerted to the scene after eyewitnesses saw a man leave the body part outside the main entrance to Bonn district court on Tuesday evening.
German police said a body they believe the severed head belonged to was found a few hundred metres away near the Rhine River.
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A 38-year-old man from Bonn was arrested after being found near the court building.
Police said the detained man is known to officers for narcotics crimes.
The victim has not yet been identified but is thought to be a 44-year-old man, according to German newspaper General Anzeiger.
Investigators said initial inquiries suggest both the suspect and victim were homeless.
No weapon has been found.
According to officials, no suspicious activity was reported in the area, and police officers are seeking witnesses.
General Anzeiger quoted police spokesman Robert Scholten as saying: “The background to the crime is still unclear.
“We only have two locations so far. The route taken by the suspect is also not known. At the moment, we can only describe the scene.”
Images taken at the scene on Bonn’s Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz show police vans blocking the road while a blanket concealed the head from view.
Bonn Police said in a statement: “At around 5.35pm, witnesses informed the police control centre that a human head was lying in front of the Bonn courthouse on Wilhelmstrasse.
“After the first arriving police forces confirmed this initial report, a suspect was identified and arrested in the immediate vicinity.
“A little later, further investigations led to the discovery of a corpse in the area of the old customs.
“The suspect is a 38-year-old man who is known to the police in particular for narcotics crime. The victim has not yet been identified.
“Both the suspect and the victim can be assigned to the homeless scene according to the first investigations. A possible instrument of the crime has not yet been found.”
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