Shahraban K. allegedly contacted at least five other women before settling on Khadija O. and killing her.
TikTokThe victim, Khadidja O., was a beauty blogger as well. Her face was stabbed so many times, it was unrecognizably disfigured.
A German beauty blogger has been accused of murdering a woman who looked eerily similar to her — in order to take her own death.
As The Independent reports, the suspect has been identified as 24-year-old German-Iraqi beauty blogger, Shahraban K. The victim, who has only been identified as Khadidja O., was also a beauty blogger.
The German press has dubbed the killing the “Doppelgänger Murder.”
Khadidja’s body was found inside Shahraban’s Mercedes with more than 50 stab wounds that all but entirely disfigured her face. The Mercedes was found near the apartment of Shahraban’s friend, Sheqir K., who is an alleged accomplice in the murder.
According to the charges, Shahraban K. first found Khadidja O. on Instagram and noticed that the two shared many physical traits. Allegedly wanting to escape home troubles, Shahraban K. set up fake accounts to arrange meetings with multiple women who she believed looked like her.
Peter Kneffel/picture alliance via Getty ImagesIngolstadt police officers searching a wooded area for clues and objects near the location where Khadidja O.’s body was discovered.
And according to a report from The Telegraph, Shahraban and Sheqir had allegedly approached as many as five women, but felt that none other than Khadidja were a close enough physical match.
A member of the Ingolstadt public prosecutor’s office, Veronika Grieser, told the German paper Bild, “After the investigation, it can be assumed that she wanted to go into hiding due to internal family disputes and fake her own death.”
Eventually, police said, this led her to arrange a meeting with Khadidja O., a 23-year-old Albanian woman who lived only 100 miles away.
Initially, police believe that Shahraban posed as a rapper known as Lune, inviting Khadidja to star in an upcoming music video. Unsure, Khadidja sent a voice message to the rapper, reportedly saying, “I hope you can see it and answer me because I’m very, very unsure … it would be really cool if you could tell me if it’s real or fake.”
Lune responded, saying, “It’s fake, sister. Don’t answer!”
Prosecutors believe Shahraban K. and her 24-year-old Kosovan boyfriend, Sheri K., then lured their victim to a meeting in Ingolstadt, this time with the offer of providing her with beauty products. They then picked her up and drove her to the forest, stabbed her 50 times, and parked the Mercedes to make it look as if Shahraban K. had been the victim.
On Aug. 16, 2022, Shahraban K.’s parents ventured to Ingolstadt and found her Mercedes near Sheqir K.’s flat — and discovered the body of a woman they believed was their daughter stabbed in the back seat.
Initially, it seemed as if the deception may have been successful, too. According to local reports, Shahraban K.’s parents actually identified the body as hers, only for an autopsy carried out a few days later to cast doubt on that suspicion.
Her family said she had told them she would be traveling to Ingolstadt to meet her ex-husband, but they grew concerned when she did not return home.
Peter Kneffel/picture alliance via Getty ImagesFlowers and candles laid out to memorialize Khadidja O.
“The murder weapon has still not been found, but the burden of proof is overwhelming,” said police spokesman Andreas Aichele. “The victim was killed with more than 50 stab wounds and her face was badly injured. That was brutal in the extreme.”
After news of the murder broke, Lune released a message to her fans, saying, “[Khadidja] was contacted again with a lure attempt, this time it worked because she believed in the good in people.”
The suspects have not yet publicly commented on the allegations. If they are found guilty, they face life in prison.
After reading about the strange circumstances surrounding this crime, read about the Ukrainian cannibal who killed, fried, and ate his girlfriend because he was hungry. Or, read about the woman who bit off a restaurant owner’s ear because she was unhappy with her meal.
