German police say they have solved a nine-year-old burglary case after DNA found on a half-eaten piece of sausage matched that of a man detained in France for an unrelated crime.
Police in the western city of Schwelm said on Thursday that the sausage belonged to the victim, and that the suspect – a 30-year-old Albanian citizen – appeared to have helped himself to a bite during the burglary in Gevelsberg in March 2012.
Officials from the North Rhine-Westphalia force said in a statement that the DNA pattern did not produce a direct hit at the time, but that automated comparisons with international databases later led to a link.
The connection was made after French police took a DNA sample from a man involved in a violent crime similar to the burglary sample, which investigators warned.
It was not clear what kind of sausage – known in Germany as sausage – the burglar had cut, although police said it was a hard variety.
However, the statute of limitations for the burglary has expired, which means that the suspect is unlikely to be extradited to Germany. Police in Schwelm said the suspect remains free.
With the Associated Press.