Suspect who ‘stabbed British Rolls-Royce designer to death in Germany’ arrested in France after international manhunt – motive remains a mystery
The prime suspect in the fatal stabbing that killed British Rolls-Royce designer Ian Cameron in Germany last week has been arrested in France after an international manhunt. However, the motive remains a mystery.
Cameron, 74, was found dead at his £3million mansion on Lake Ammersee in Upper Bavaria on Friday night.
The Serbian suspect, who fled Germany to France before his arrest, was seen outside a supermarket less than a mile from the crime scene hours before Cameron’s death. He was wearing a gray T-shirt and blue pants.
CCTV footage from the scene later showed an unidentifiable man wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, light-coloured trousers, gloves and a dark red backpack.
Investigators searching the area after Cameron was found dead discovered the backpack containing both items of clothing, suggesting the attacker had changed clothes a second time after the crime to avoid detection.
The Serbian suspect was seen hours earlier in a supermarket less than a mile from the crime scene. He has now been arrested in France after fleeing Germany
CCTV footage from the scene later showed an unidentifiable man wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt and light-coloured trousers, as well as gloves and a dark red backpack
Police suspect the killer rang the doorbell at Mr Cameron’s home in Herrsching am Ammersee before attacking him
Ian Cameron (2L), a former top designer for Rolls-Royce, was murdered in his home last week
Police now suspect that the killer rang Cameron’s doorbell in Herrsching and attacked him when he opened the door, forcing Cameron’s wife Veronika Kloos, also a former BMW designer, to flee over a wall to safety.
Suspicions arose that the designer had been deliberately targeted in the attack when it emerged that the cables to the security cameras above the garages where his valuable vehicles were kept had been cut.
About 30 officers were deployed in the hunt for the attacker after Cameron’s neighbours gave a description of the assailant that closely matched his appearance in security camera footage.
The suspect is said to have been shopping at the Edeka supermarket on Seestraße, just 1.3 kilometres from the designer’s home, shortly before the attack on the Rolls Royce designer took place.
CCTV footage also showed the attacker wearing a red backpack and green-yellow gloves.
After police used drones and even a police helicopter to search for the killer, they found the backpack, which is now being analyzed for usable DNA traces.
Super recognizers were also deployed to recognize faces, even on poor quality images or when perpetrators are wearing masks. These specialists were supposed to help identify the suspect.
The investigation team expanded the manhunt to the whole of Germany earlier this week, before he was found in France.
Police suspect that the killer rang the doorbell at the house in Herrsching am Ammersee and launched his attack on Cameron when he opened the door.
Cameron’s wife Kloos fled over a wall to escape the attacker. She found shelter with neighbors, who called emergency services.
A short time later, the designer was found dead.
Woman Verena Kloos managed to get to the neighbors and call the police
Mr Cameron and his wife, Veronika Kloos, lived in a £3million home in Herrsching, Bavaria (File)
Investigators found that the surveillance cameras above the home’s garages had been turned off and the wiring had been cut.
An officer told According to The Sun, it is “extremely rare” for a burglar who prepares well to disable the CCTV cameras to then “stab and kill” someone.
Police called it a “violent crime” and said the attacker fled the home on foot.
Heavy rain on Friday night prevented the police helicopter from leaving on time, delaying the search until officers were able to deploy drones to map the area.
The day after the crime, divers and dog handlers combed the area, but so far they have found no trace of the attacker, apart from the backpack containing clothing seen in the surveillance footage.
Ian Cameron was a respected figure in the automotive industry and left a lasting impression on Rolls-Royce with his groundbreaking designs.
Before retiring in 2013, he was praised for his work on luxury cars including the 3 Series, Z8, Phantom and Ghost.
His untimely death shocked the small, quiet community on the shores of Lake Ammersee.