14/01/2005 00:00
TW
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By Humphrey Carter HOMICIDE detectives are eager to question the ex-lover of the 60-year-old German found dead on his yacht in Andratx on Wednesday after the results of yesterday's autopsy revealed that he died from repeated blows to the head before being stabbed with a dagger in the neck.

55 -year-old Silvia, who police suspect tried to take her life after allegedly killing Gerth Muller, was in a stable condition in Son Dureta hospital yesterday. Police are waiting for the green light from doctors to talk to the prime suspect about the events of Tuesday night on board the SY Kandahar in the Port of Andratx.

Police sources said that they are dealing with a crime of passion; they suspect that jealousy was the motive. The couple had been together, living on the yacht for 12 years before separating last year.

The results of the autopsy reveal that Gerth Muller died from his head wounds. However, his neck and wrists were also slit to apparently make sure of his death.

After another day at the crime scene, detectives believe that the prime suspect, 55-year-old Silvia, went round to the boat on Tuesday evening and found Gerth either resting or asleep on his bunk.

SHEET
It appears that he was given very little time to react before being beaten round the head with a blunt object and then attacked with a dagger. His body was then wrapped in a sheet.

The dagger was hidden in a drawer in the cabin and the suspect, leaving a trail of blood, rushed out on deck to throw the other main murder weapon overboard. The prime suspect then returned down below and apparently slashed her own neck and wrists.

Detectives found the blood-stained dagger on board relatively quickly yesterday. It was not difficult for Guardia Civil divers, using the blood stains on deck as a marker, to locate the murder weapon.

Silvia, who was found near Gerth's body in a critical condition on Wednesday, was last night in a “stable, but critical condition”. Doctors said that her condition was no longer life threatening and police should be able to question her within a few days. One of the questions police want answered is to where her knife wounds came from. Police sources said that, while there appears to be sufficient evidence to suggest Silvia is the murderer, there are questions which detectives still want her to answer. The apparent “crime of passion” has shocked the Port of Andratx, in particular close friends.