A girl accused of brutally stabbing a lookalike to death so she could use her body to fake her own murder and start a new life with her boyfriend away from her conservative family is to go on trial for murder.
Accused Shahraban Kh.-B. and her boyfriend Sheqir K., both 24, who were arrested on suspicion of the brutal crime, have now been charged with murder and will go on trial on 16th January 2024, for the shocking killing of 23-year-old beauty blogger Khadidja O.
Prosecutors say the sick pair stabbed their victim more than 50 times after luring her to a meeting in Ingolstadt, Bavaria State, Germany, in August last year.
Khadidja has been targeted by the couple because of her amazing resemblance to Shahraban Kh.-B. who was desperate to break away from her family who were strict believers of the Yazidi faith.
Jury chairman Konrad Kliegt from the Ingolstadt District Court revealed that the trial is due to run until the end of June next year.
Court officials say 190 witnesses will give evidence, and both defendants will be represented by four attorneys each.
The pair are also accused of attempted incitement to murder for hiring a hitman to kill Sheqir K.’s brother for EUR 10,000 (GBP 8,238).
The trial will hear how the couple contacted random girls on social media who looked enough like Shahraban Kh.-B. to convince a coroner.
They used an Instagram account to get in touch with Khadidja and offered her a free-of-charge beauty treatment.
When the victim accepted, they agreed to meet in Eppingen, the victim’s hometown, and picked her up in a Mercedes.
State Prosecutor Veronika Grieser said: “They drove towards Ingolstadt but asked the 23-year-old to get out of the car in a forest.
“She was hit on the head at least once and then stabbed 56 times.”
The killers put their victim’s body back into the car and abandoned the vehicle just a few blocks from where Shahraban Kh.-B. lived in Ingolstadt.
Her horrified parents discovered the victim’s body in the Mercedes later that day and were convinced it was their daughter.
The pair were finally tracked down after forensic examinations and a check of the victim’s tattoos revealed her true identity.
Meanwhile, police seized Shahraban Kh.-B.’s broken mobile phone after she left it in a pizzeria in Ingolstadt shortly before she was arrested on 17th August 2022.
The victim’s father will reportedly take part in the proceedings as a co-plaintiff.
