Car-boot woman's husband arrested

CANBERRA - The husband of Maria Korp, the Melbourne woman missing for four days before being found in the boot of her car, was yesterday arrested as the bizarre case took new twists.

Korp remains in a coma at the Alfred Hospital after being discovered unconscious and critically ill by forensic detectives examining her dumped car.

Joseph Korp and a woman, named in news reports as his lover, Tania Herman, were taken into custody by homicide detectives investigating a case that has intrigued Australia since it broke last Sunday.

Police were also checking files on the mysterious death of Herman's husband, river boat captain Paul Herman, who drowned after falling into the Murray River in January.

The link was uncovered by Melbourne's The Age, which said Herman might have suffered a heart attack before falling from the paddle steamer Pride of the Murray. He was said to have been under stress following the breakup of his marriage, and had complained of chest pains the night before his death.

Korp has admitted to an affair with Tania Herman, which led to his wife taking out a restraining order against him.

The order was lifted by Maria Korp the day before she failed to arrive at work or to collect her 11-year-old son, Daniel, after school.

Korp told reporters the affair had ended some time ago and that he had nothing to do with his wife's disappearance.

Tania Herman, who separated from her husband more than a year ago, lives in the suburb of Greenvale, near the Korps' home in Mickleham, in northwest Melbourne.

Police have also been investigating possible links between Maria Korp's disappearance and the couple's membership of an adult on-line dating service.

The Korps, under the username "Cple for Fun" had sought other couples with the "right chemistry ... to have some real fun".

Detectives have not yet pieced together the events between Maria Korp's disappearance last Wednesday and her reappearance in the boot of her red Mazda 626 on Sunday, near Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance. But the Age reported that police suspect her abductors believed Korp was dead when the car was dumped in Dallas Brooks Drive.

The newspaper said it was believed no parking infringement notices had been issued against the car, indicating it had not been parked there for the duration of Korp's four-day disappearance.