The first victim of the serial murders died on September 11, 2000, the last on April 6, 2006. Eight of the victims were men of Turkish heritage; one was from Greece. They were all shot with the same gun. The investigators initially assumed, without evidence, that the killings must have involved drugs — sometimes they even accused relatives of taking part in the murders. Racism was quickly ruled out as motive.

When police officer Michele Kiesewetter was shot in Heilbronn on April 25, 2007, in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, no connection to the other murders was made. It wasn't until four and a half years later that police pieced the events together, almost accidently — and following yet another crime.

The bodies of Uwe Böhnhardt and Uwe Mundlos were found in a burned-out motorhome after a failed bank robbery in Eisenach on November 4, 2011. They had apparently taken their lives to escape arrest. The fact that the men were members of a right-wing group called the National Socialist Underground (NSU), and were behind the serial murders became known after a video was sent to several media outlets a short time later. Multiple pieces of evidence were discovered by police in the rubble of a residential building in Zwickau that had exploded on the day of the robbery. The detonation was presumably triggered by Beate Zschäpe, who had joined up with Böhnhardt and Mundlos in January 1998. Zschäpe turned herself in to police on November 8, 2011.

In addition to the 10 murders already blamed on the NSU, prosecutors would eventually charge the group with two bomb attacks in Cologne that left more than 20 people injured and 15 robberies.

Not 'doing everything'

Zschäpe and four NSU supporters went on trial for the crimes in Munich's higher regional court on May 6, 2013. Prosecutors have demanded a life sentence for Zschäpe and prison terms of three to 12 years for the four people accused of being accessories.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree 10 victims, 10 tragedies Nine of the 10 victims were of foreign heritage, but they had all made Germany their home when they were killed. The 10th victim was a German police officer. Every one of them was shot in cold blood.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree Enver Simsek On September 9, 2000, the florist Enver Simsek, pictured with his wife, was shot eight times. The 38-year-old father of two sold flowers near a small parking lot in the southern city of Nuremberg. Simsek, who migrated from Turkey to Germany in 1986, is believed to be the first murder victim in the NSU series of racially motivated killings.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree Abdurrahim Ozudogru Also in Nuremberg, Turkish-born tailor Abdurrahim Ozudogru was shot on June 13, 2001 in his alteration shop. He was 49 years old with a daughter who was 19 at the time of his murder.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree Suleyman Taskopru Later that month, on June 27, 2001 Suleyman Taskopru was shot dead in his father's fruit and vegetable shop in Hamburg. He was 31 years old and had a three-year-old daughter.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree Habil Kilic On August 29 of the same year, 38-year-old Habil Kilic, who was also a fruit and vegetable grocer, was killed in his shop in Munich. Like Taskopru, he was shot in the head. His wife and his 12-year-old daughter later left Germany.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree Mehmet Turgut Mehmet Turgut lived in Hamburg, but was visiting a friend in the eastern German city of Rostock and helping out at a Doner kebab fast food restaurant when he was shot on February 25, 2004. He was killed by three bullets to the head.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree Ismail Yasar Ismail Yasar was shot five times in his doner kebab restaurant in Nuremberg on June 9, 2005. A customer found him behind the counter. The 50-year-old had three children.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree Theodoros Boulgarides Just a few days later, on June 15, 2005, Theodoros Boulgarides was shot dead in Munich in his lock and key service shop. He was the only victim with Greek heritage. The 41-year-old father of two was the NSU's seventh murder victim.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree Mehmet Kubasik On a busy street at noon on April 4, 2006 in the western city of Dortmund, Turkish-born Mehmet Kubasik was killed by several shots to the head in his small convenience store. The 39-year-old left behind a wife and three children.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree Halit Yozgat In Kassel on April 6, 2006, Halit Yozgat was also shot in the head. He was killed in the internet cafe he ran with his father. Twenty-one years old, Turkish-born but with a German passport, Yozgat was taking night school classes to graduate from high school.

The victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spree Michele Kiesewetter Michele Kiesewetter, a 22-year-old police officer, was shot dead on April 25, 2007 in the southwestern city of Heilbronn. She was the NSU's 10th and final murder victim. Author: Iveta Ondruskova



An early release would be ruled out should presiding judge Manfred Götzl's tribunal sentence Zschäpe to life. But, whatever sentence is imposed, survivors and relatives of the victims have already delivered their verdict on German authorities' investigation of the NSU's crimes.

"We are doing everything to solve the murders, uncover the accomplices and individuals behind these crimes, and bring all perpetrators to justice," Chancellor Angela Merkel said on February 23, 2012, at a ceremony to commemorate the people hurt and killed by the NSU.

However, with the trial finally coming to a close over six years later, many questions remain unanswered, said Antonia von der Behrens, a Berlin lawyer representing one of Mehmet Kubasik's sons. Her client will likely never find out why his father was murdered in Dortmund in 2006. Victims' families believe that Zschäpe could shed light on why their relatives were targeted. But she claims to always have heard about the murders only after the fact — an assertion that von der Behrens does not buy.

Lawyers, activists and relatives believe that the NSU had far more accomplices than are being tried in Munich. For many years, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, had placed numerous informants at events where NSU members or their supporters were present. However, by official request, the informants have only been allowed to give limited testimony — or none at all — as witnesses in the trial. The same has applied to agents of the BfV.

In December, von der Behrens said the BfV and the equivalent local-level agencies in relevant states "have systematically thwarted and made impossible the investigation of the 10 murders, 43 attempted murders and 15 robberies."

Investigative shortcomings

Even after several parliamentary committees of inquiry, many questions about the NSU remain unanswered. Clemens Binninger was a member of one Bundestag committee of inquiry. He also doubts the theory that only three people — Zschäpe, Böhnhardt and Mundlos — belonged to the terror group.

"Within the trio, did the two men commit all these crimes alone, without leaving a trace anywhere?" asked Binninger, who has since resigned from the Bundestag.

A former police officer, Binninger wonders what the NSU's "determining impulse" was when selecting victims and locations. The murders were carried out across Germany: Rostock and Hamburg in the north, Dortmund in the west, Kassel in the center and Nuremberg, Munich and Heilbronn in the south.

Survivors and the relatives of the people killed are disillusioned, von der Behrens said. She also said that police allegations that the victims or their families had been involved in drug trafficking or gang crime amount to institutional racism, especially considering the lack of political will to clarify the extent of the BfV's own role in the NSU's killings.

With her promise of a relentless official effort to solve the crimes six years ago, Chancellor Merkel had raised the hopes of survivors and the relatives of the people killed. However, the state's failures have had few repercussions. Heinz Fromm, then the president of the BfV, voluntarily resigned in 2012 after it became known that files related to the NSU had been destroyed shortly after the group's existence became public. Any remaining BfV files on the NSU have been redacted or remain under lock and key. Some others were destroyed, even after the investigation had begun.

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