Police have launched a murder investigation into the “mysterious” death of Walter Lubcke, a politician from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union Party, local media reports.
The 65-year-old, who led the district government in the town of Kassel in the state of Hesse, was reportedly found dead in his own garden with a wound to his head. No weapon was discovered at the scene, according to police.
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The Kassel district council said in a statement that they were “bewildered and shocked at the death of the popular and extremely approachable” politician who was described by his colleagues as a “bridge-builder.”
🚨🚨🚨URGENT RED ALErT! GERMANY! Kassel's government president Walter Lübcke (✝︎65, CDU) was found dead in his estate. Shortly thereafter, the terrifying realization: He was killed by a head shot! https://t.co/HQ4o4zxUoX
— Ivan Daniel Avraham Milevskii (@Ivan_Milevskii) 3 июня 2019 г.
“We are deeply shocked by the sudden death of our friend Walter Lubcke”, CDU state chairman Volker Bouffier and Hessian CDU parliamentary group leader Michael Bodenberg stressed in a joint statement.
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Lubcke served as a member of the Hesse state parliament for ten years before becoming regional president of Kassel in 2009, celebrating the tenth anniversary of his being in this capacity in May.
He reportedly wanted to resign as Kassel head in March but his colleagues asked him to extend his tenure, according to German media.
