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A suspected serial killer, arrested last year after being caught on camera disposing of a body, is now thought to have attacked or killed at least 19 people in Spain, France and Germany.
Images of the 48-year-old German truck driver were caught on a Spanish firm's CCTV, prompting a police investigation.
Yesterday Eurojust, the European Union's Judicial Co-operation Unit, said the man is suspected of at least 19 murders or attempted murders between 1974, when he was 15 years-old, and 2006.
Most of the victims were prostitutes.
The lorry driver, named in the Spanish press as Volker Eckert, travelled regularly outside his native Germany, usually to France and Spain.
When confronted with the evidence, the suspect confessed to five other murders in Spain and France as well as one in Germany, when the suspect was 15 years-old and the victim, 14.
He committed his crimes in the regions of Barcelona and Figueras in Spain, Plauen in Germany and Saintes and Reims in France.
Other unsolved cases in Europe are being investigated as the scale of the crimes emerged.
The man was arrested after a European arrest warrant was issued by Spain.
The authorities said other European countries may be involved.
- INDEPENDENT
