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Monday, November 10, 2008

International This One's For the Ladies

Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 3:00 PM

There's an interesting article here about a long, seemingly endless hunt for a female serial killer in Germany. Here's the lede:

[The town of] Bad Kreuznach finds itself at the centre of one of the most bizarre, high-profile murder mysteries in the country's history - the search for an apparent serial killer whom police and prosecutors call, simply, 'The Woman Without a Face'. They have no fingerprints to go on. No witnesses. No description. What they do have is a trail of DNA, now stretching back 15 years and across three countries - as well as a grisly new reason to put a face to her double helix. A case that had for years been gnawingly disturbing, yet still fairly obscure, has leapt on to the front pages of German newspapers. For it appears now that the mystery woman may not only be a killer, but a cop-killer.

There will be a fascinating true crime book written on this one day.

Comments (7) RSS

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Isn't DNA a wonderful thing? When they finally have her, there will be no doubt.

Posted by Vince on November 10, 2008 at 3:23 PM

Ahhhh BK. I used to live really close to their. The train station is nice. :) And a lady serial killer in Germany? I can easily believe it. They amended their 'who you can shoot' laws to include women, after some muslim women were blowing shit up in the 1970's. My guess? Chick is an immigrant from Turkey.

Posted by Original Monique on November 10, 2008 at 3:30 PM

More Historical Context

Posted by Sir Learnsalot on November 10, 2008 at 3:31 PM

Beyonce wants to play the lead regardless of the race of the serial killer.

Posted by elswinger on November 10, 2008 at 3:44 PM

Aw crap, Paul, now they've got you doing it too. 'Lede' is still a fake word, one that should not be inflicted on people who didn't go to journalism school.

Posted by Greg on November 10, 2008 at 3:51 PM

Funny you should mention that, Greg. I actually looked it up when I saw it and, at least according to Merriam-Webster, it turns out to be a real word. lede I'll be thirty-four in a week and all this time I thought it was spelled "lead." Fucking English.

Posted by TVDinner on November 10, 2008 at 9:14 PM

From your link:

Etymology: alteration of lead
Date: 1976

In other words, it's a bullshit made-up word for people who can't handle homographs and heteronyms. Apparently, only journalism students are so stupid that they need this crutch.

HOMOGRAPHS are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. Heteronyms are a type of homograph that are also spelled the same and have different meanings, but sound different.

Posted by Greg on November 11, 2008 at 9:57 AM