Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

A German man who reportedly whipped his reality-star girlfriend to death in 2016 before living with her corpse for weeks has been killed in an explosion in his apartment.

Axel G., 55, was sentenced to five years for killing reality star Sarah H., 32, before being freed due to lack of evidence that his lashes, delivered over a period of two hours, killed the woman.

The incident took place in the town of Neustrelitz in the north-eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 2016.

Earlier this week, Axel G. died in hospital after an explosion at his home which could have been intentional, according to the local authorities.

Sarah H. became famous on the Sat.1 TV show ‘Schwer verliebt’ (‘Heavily in Love’) due to her fondness for Barbie dolls.

At the end of the programme, she had failed to find love, but instead of letting it beat her, she had packed away the dolls and decided to focus all her efforts on finding a partner.

She believed that search had come to an end when she met Axel G. on Facebook.

However, the victim left Axel G. in 2015, and he continued to harass her a number of times.

Eventually, he kidnapped her, drugged her, and tied her to a bed. Axel G. then whipped the victim for over two hours until she died.

He reportedly lived with his ex-girlfriend’s corpse in the home for several weeks.

During questioning, Axel G. reportedly admitted that he had strapped Sarah naked to the bed and beaten her with a homemade whip made of fibreglass and leather straps.

After the beating, he refused to give her food or water and she soon died either from her injuries or from a lack of water. However, because the body was only discovered weeks later, it was not possible to establish the cause of death.

In 2017, Axel G. was sentenced to five years in prison, however the judgement was reviewed by the Federal Court of Justice in June of this year and he was freed.

During the appeal, it was found that the victim’s death could not be clearly attributed to the lashes she received. Axel G. had to pay a fine of EUR 1,350 (GBP 1,219) and was freed.

The investigation into his death continues.

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