BERLIN (AP) – German police say they have solved a nine-year-old burglary after DNA found on a half-eaten piece of sausage matched that of a man held in France for an unrelated crime.
Police in the western town of Schwelm said on Thursday that the sausage belonged to the victim and that the suspect – a 30-year-old Albanian citizen – had helped himself with a snack during the burglary in March 2012.
It was not clear what kind of sausage – known in Germany as wurst – the burglar had nibbled, although police said it was a tough variety.
Investigators were recently warned that French police had taken an appropriate DNA sample from a man involved in a violent crime.
But Schwelm police said the suspect remains free and that he may escape his sentence in the wurst case. The limitation period for the burglary has expired, which means that it is unlikely to be extradited to Germany.