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A politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel's party was shot dead outside his home Germany.

Walter Luebcke, who was in charge of the Kassel area regional administration, was found outside his home on Sunday by a relative with a gunshot wound to the head.

Hesse prosecutor Horst Streiff said an autopsy confirmed that the 65-year-old died from a pistol shot to the head, fired at close range, Streiff said.

A homicide investigation has been opened but officials said they had "no concrete information on a suspect or a motive".

Mr Luebcke, a long-time member of Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Party, in 2015 received threats after speaking out in support of helping asylum-seekers.

The head of the Hesse state criminal police, Sabine Thurau, told reporters the earlier threats had "no connection to the current crime, according to our knowledge."

Neither Streiff nor Thurau would give further details, including whether the weapon used to kill Mr Luebcke had been found or whether there were any witnesses.

"This first phase after the crime is very decisive for the success of the investigation," Thurau said. "We don't want speculation to endanger the investigation."

Her office has set up a special commission with 20 police officers to investigate, she said.

Mr Luebcke lived on the outskirts of the central city of Kassel, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northeast of Frankfurt.