Man suspected of killing 21 co-workers through tainted lunches A man has been arrested in Germany over fears that he has contaminated 21 colleagues’ lunches. The 56-year-old metal fittings […]

A man has been arrested in Germany over fears that he has contaminated 21 colleagues’ lunches.

The 56-year-old metal fittings manufacturer, known as Klaus O, is suspected of peppering poisonous chemicals on his co-worker’s sandwiches since 2000 in Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, northwest Germany.

When Klaus O was spotted adding a mysterious substance to his co-worker’s lunch on the company’s security cameras, his manager, Tilo Blechinger, brushed the incident off as a misguided practical joke.

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“In the beginning we thought it was a misconceived prank between co-workers, and not a murder attempt,” the manager of ARI Armaturen told the DPA news agency.

‘There were a strikingly high number of heart attacks’

However, when a colleague noticed that a white substance was smeared on his lunch, he notified his managers, who decided to call police.

Authorities discovered that the bread was laced toxic lead acetate, a near-tasteless substance that can cause severe organ damage.

Police found mercury, lead and cadmium in the man’s home, reported Deutsche Welle.

He had worked for the company for 38 years, and was described by his manager as “conspicuously inconspicuous.”

‘We thought it was a misconceived prank, not a murder attempt’

Twenty-one employees have died before retirement since 2000, Deutsche Welle reported.

One employee has been in a coma for two years, according to The Times.

Police will now re-open these cases to see if the man in question is responsible.

“There were a strikingly high number of heart attacks and cancers among the death cases in the company,” police said.

‘Kind of weird that everyone who works here dies’

Members of the public have been left incredulous over the suspected murder attempts.

A man’s tweet went viral after he was left aghast that no-one had linked the incidents together.

“Ummmm 21 since the year 2000? Nobody was like, “Kind of weird everyone who works here dies,” tweeted Dan Moran.

Ummmm 21 since the year 2000? Nobody was like, “Kind of weird everyone who works here dies.” https://t.co/2tljXAntM3 — dan (@DanJMoran) June 30, 2018

Attacking a person through the use of poisons and chemicals is named bio crime.

A spokeswoman for the Poison Information Center at the University of Bonn told Bild it was a “very unusual case,” and that lead poisoning is difficult to detect due to symptoms that might be caused by other conditions, reported Fox News.