Former US soldier arrested as a suspect in a killing in Germany nearly 46 years ago

BERLIN — A 66-year-old man accused of killing a woman when he was stationed in Germany as a U.S. soldier nearly 46 years ago has been arrested in the United States, German investigators said Friday.

The man, whose name wasn't released in line with German privacy rules, is accused of stabbing a 35-year-old woman more than 30 times at her apartment on June 11, 1978. At the time, authorities were unable to find the killer.

German police took up the investigation again in 2020, re-examining large amounts of evidence, Stuttgart prosecutors and police in nearby Ludwigsburg said in a statement. A fingerprint led them to the suspect, and further investigation — including a DNA comparison — was carried out in conjunction with U.S. authorities, including FBI offices in Albany and Berlin.

German prosecutors sought an arrest warrant on suspicion of murder. The man was detained on Feb. 13 by the U.S. Marshals Service, with support from the FBI and the New York state police, and is in custody in a U.S. jail. German authorities are seeking his extradition.

Murder does not fall under the statute of limitations in Germany.