Germany crossbow killings: Two more bodies found as mystery deepens

Not clear how latest victims died or their relationship to crossbow killings 700km away

A house in Wittingen, northern Germany, is cordoned off by police after the discovery of two more bodies (AFP/Getty Images)

German police have found two more bodies during their investigation into the deaths of three people shot with crossbows in a hotel room.

The remains of two women were discovered inside the apartment of one of the original three victims.

The find adds another layer of mystery to the case, which began when officers found three bodies in a hotel room in the city of Passau, close to the border with Austria, on Saturday.

The remains of a 53-year-old man, a woman aged 33 and another woman aged 30 were all found in the room with crossbow bolts in their bodies.

Detectives were attempting to understand what had happened inside the hotel and what relationship the three had to each other when they searched an apartment in Wittingen, almost 700km further north, which was owned by the younger woman.

Inside, officers found two more dead bodies. Police have not yet said how the fourth and fifth victims died or whether they have been identified.

However, they did confirm they were investigating whether there were connections between the latest two dead and the three killed with crossbows.

A Bavarian police spokesman said there was currently no evidence to suggest anyone outside the hotel room was involved in the deaths of the three in Passau.

The man and the older woman, who were both from a village in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, were found lying together in the bed, while the younger woman was on the floor.

The local prosecutor Walter Feiler told the German news agency DPA the couple on the bed were holding hands and had multiple crossbow bolts shot into them, while the other woman’s body was found with just a single bolt.

The group had booked a triple room in the hotel for three days, detectives have previously said.

Three crossbows were found inside the room. The weapons can be legally purchased by anyone over the age of 17 in Germany.