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Liechtenstein murder suspect ‘likely dead’

Malcolm Curtis/The Local/AFP
Malcolm Curtis/The Local/AFP - [email protected]
Liechtenstein murder suspect ‘likely dead’
Jürgen Hermann: police believe he committed suicide. Photo: Liechtenstein national police

Police believe Jürgen Hermann, a fund manager suspected of killing a bank executive early Monday in Liechtenstein, committed suicide later the same day, although investigators were continuing efforts to track him down.

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National police from Liechtenstein told a press conference that Hermann’s clothes, passport, driver's licence and a letter reading like a suicide note were found at the municipality of Ruggel, near the banks of the Rhine River.


In the letter, Hermann, 58, confessed to the shooting and bid farewell to the world, police said.

Sniffer dogs followed a trail to the river, where the suspect's clothes were found.

Investigators, however, had not recovered the man’s body and an acquaintance of Hermann believe he may still be alive, according to a report from 20 Minuten.

Earlier, police launched a hunt for Hermann following the shooting death of a man identified by local media as Jürgen Frick, the 48-year-old CEO of the Frick Bank at Balzers, a municipality close to the Swiss border, at 7.30am.

Police said the fugitive was “armed and dangerous” and anyone encountering him should exercise “extreme caution”.

Hermann was known in Liechtenstein for running a fund company that went bankrupt in 2004.

On his personal website, he claimed to have been ruined by the Liechtenstein “financial mafia”.

He specifically blamed the Frick Bank and Liechtenstein’s financial market authority for his company’s difficulties.

On his website, he claimed to have launched a 200-million-franc lawsuit against the state.

in an apparent challenge, content on Hermann's website on Monday was replaced with the English words, "Catch me if you can, dead or alive, reward 200,000,000 CHF."

A long-time acquaintance of Hermann told 20 Minuten that he wasn’t so sure that the fugitive had committed suicide.

“Jürgen is an excellent diver,” the acquaintance said.

Police say the victim at the Frick Bank died from three bullets fired from a nine-millimetre pistol.

The victim's body was found by an employee on Monday morning in the bank's underground parking lot.

Hermann, who was spotted on a video surveillance camera, was believed to have followed Frick's car into the carpark on foot, where he shot him as he got out of the vehicle.
   
His getaway Smart car was found
abandoned in the countryside near the Rhine River in the north of the country and the Swiss and Austrian borders.
   
Police deployed dogs and helicopters to comb through the sealed-off area
and urged the public to stay away.

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