Five mysterious deaths, including three by crossbow bolts, may have been a murder-suicide pact among Germans with a passion for medieval folklore and weaponry, police revealed today.

Germany has been baffled by the macabre case since a trio of corpses was found Saturday in a hotel in the Bavarian town of Passau, followed by Monday's discovery of two dead women across the country in the town of Wittingen.

Police investigating the initial triple death mystery said the two women were dressed in all black, one lying on a bed with the older bearded man who was covered in medieval alchemy tattoos.

Two of them, named by police only as Torsten Weiss, 53, and Kerstin Enders, 33, were found with bolts through their hearts lying hand-in-hand beside wills on a bed.

The third person Farina Caspari, 30, is believed to have shot the other two medieval combat enthusiasts before firing an arrow into her own neck in the Bavarian retreat.

Several hundred miles north at Caspari's apartment in Wittingen, her 35-year-old partner - a teacher - was found dead with a 19-year-old woman on Monday, PNP reported.

Torsten Weiss, 53, had been running a medieval shop in his hometown selling swords, axes, knives, flags and clothing as well as mead

Undertakers carry a body bag from the house in Wittingen on Monday as police investigate the deaths of two other women possibly connected to the deaths of the trio in Passau

The guesthouse in Passau, Bavaria where the three were discovered on Saturday

Bild reported that the trio of victims in Bavaria had shared a fascination with the Middle Ages, including knights' tournaments, jousting, medieval weaponry and alchemy.

Weiss had for the past five months owned a shop called 'Milites Conductius' that sold medieval-style swords, axes, knives, flags and clothing as well as mead, Bild said.

On display at his shop in Rhineland-Palatinate state was a bizarre female mannequin wearing suspenders, tied with ropes and chains, smeared with red paint and its head bandaged.

Bild said his shop also provided a space for sword-fighting lessons in the evenings. And tattooed on his arms were symbols of the medieval alchemists or natural philosophers, it said.

Swords and daggers on display at Torsten Weiss's Milites Conductius shop in Hachenburg in the Rhineland-Palatinate state

An assortment of meads and beers for sale at the Milites Conductius shop posted on their Facebook page

The local prosecutor's office said it was treating the case as a 'requested killing and suicide', suggesting Caspari first shot the couple and then herself.

Contrary to prior reports, police said on Tuesday no crossbows or arrows were found at the Wittingen crime scene, inside a timber-framed house, where Caspari's partner and the 19-year-old were found.

Undertakers carry a body bag from the house in Wittengen

'The modus operandi cannot be compared,' said a police spokesperson.

A police spokesman told Focus the women had died 'a few days ago.'

One neighbour in Wittingen told Merkur - like the women 400 miles south - the pair were, 'Always dressed in black. So gothic-wise.'

The three killed by crossbow had checked into the riverside hotel Zur Triftsperre, close to the Austrian border, on a rainy Friday night.

They were on their way back from Austria, according to Bild, where at least one of the crossbows had been bought.

Caspari reportedly paid the £260 (300 euros) in advance for three nights without breakfast before they all disappeared into their room.

The three were carrying no luggage and returned to the carpark only later to collect the crossbow bags.

Three crossbows were found by police in the room, one still packed in its bag.

Weiss's former landlord Alexander Kruger told RTL he always saw the older man with a 'lesbian couple,' adding: 'They all wore black, had their eyebrows painted black.'

Police said three crossbows were found in the room where three bodies were discovered with bolts sticking out of them on Saturday

The guesthouse which stands near the Ilz river surrounded by trees in Passau, Bavaria, where two women and a man were found dead on Saturday

Kruger told the broadcaster he had noticed Weiss's 'harsh' treatment of the women and had been prompted to call the police on one occasion.

But when he spoke with the police he explained to RTL: 'The police gave me to understand that this person does not exist under the name.'

Kruger said he began noticing a man sneaking around his property and when confronted, he explained he was a private detective hired by the parents of one of the women with Weiss to locate her.

Undertakers load a coffin onto the back of an SUV in Wittingen on Monday

A police car stands in front of a building where the bodies of two women have been found at an apartment, in Wittlingen on Monday

The trio were discovered lying with fatal crossbow bolt wounds at the 'pension' room in Passau, Bavaria

Caspari was a bakery sales manager with a 'passion for the Middle Ages community, the hustle and bustle of medieval markets with jugglers and knight tournaments,' reported Merkur.

The trio were members of the International Jousting League, which re-enacts the medieval sport, according to Merkur.

German law tightly restricts firearms but archery equipment is freely available as sports equipment and anyone over 18 can purchase a high-powered crossbow.