The newly elected mayor of a town in Germany was discovered with stab wounds at her residence, indicating that she had been tortured in the basement before the assault. Iris Stalzer, 57, won the mayoral election in Herdecke, Western Germany, and was set to assume office on November 1. Emergency services were summoned by her daughter, reporting an attempted robbery resulting in serious injuries to Stalzer. However, upon arrival, the police found her indoors with multiple stab wounds, contradicting the initial report. Stalzer was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition but is now stable. During police questioning, Stalzer accused her 17-year-old daughter of the attack.
Recent updates reveal that Stalzer told authorities she was tortured for hours by her adopted daughter in the basement. The victim sustained stab wounds from two knives, and efforts were made to clean the crime scene. Blood stains were removed before the emergency call but were later detected by forensic experts. Both the daughter and the mayor’s 15-year-old son were taken into custody, with the daughter handed over to the youth welfare office. The prosecutor classified the incident as bodily harm, distancing it from any political motive.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz and others swiftly condemned the attack on Stalzer, emphasizing the need for a thorough investigation. Stalzer, an employment lawyer affiliated with the Social Democrats, won the mayoral seat in a non-politically motivated election. Herdecke, a town in the Ruhr region with approximately 23,000 residents, witnessed a heightened police presence following the incident, including a helicopter transport for Stalzer to the hospital.