RPONLINE Gerwald Claus-Brunner who is believed to have taken his own life after murdering a man in Berlin

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And in a macabre twist police believe Gerwald Claus-Brunner, famous for wearing distinctive headscarves and dungarees, strapped the body of his unnamed victim to a porter's trolley and wheeled it across Germany's capital. Pirate Party members alerted police after they received a letter from Claus-Brunner saying he would be dead by the time the letter was opened. When officers broke into the 44-year-old's rented apartment in Berlin's southern Lichterfelde district they found the two bodies.

BILD Police gather evidence at Gerwald Claus-Brunner's Berlin apartment

He could fly off the handle sometimes but I don't think he could be a murderer Neighbour

The victim was reported to be naked and bound to an upright trolley with zip ties. Claus-Brunner had apparently electrocuted himself. Police said initial investigations suggest a murder-suicide and no-one else is being sought in connection with the deaths. Officers said the victim was killed by blunt force trauma to his upper body and that the murder took place in his own flat in Wedding in the city's northern suburbs. They believe Claus-Brunner then wheeled the corpse through the streets of Berlin on a trolley to get it back to his own home where he committed suicide a few days later.

RPONLINE Gerwald Claus-Brunner

A police spokesman said detectives were following up leads that Claus-Brunner stalked and harassed the younger man before carrying out the fatal attack. There have been unconfirmed reports in the German media that the victim was sexually abused and then strangled. Claus-Brunner, who attracted attention due to his height and clothes, belonged to Germany's first ever nationwide Pirate Party. In 2011 the Pirates surprisingly polled 8.9 per cent of the vote and won 15 seats in Berlin's state parliament in Berlin although last Sunday's elections saw them take just 1.7 per of the vote and lose all their seats.

BILD Gerwald Claus-Brunner campaign poster near his Berlin apartment