A German woman has been accused of murdering an influencer she found online because they were lookalikes as part of a wild scheme to fake her own death.
According to police investigations, 23-year-old Sharaban K allegedly stabbed beauty blogger Khadidja O 50 times and then left her disfigured body in the back of her own car before going into hiding with her boyfriend and alleged accomplice Sheqir K.
Police found the body in Sharaban K’s car and assumed it was her because of its resemblance. Khadidja O’s face was so injured it was “unrecognisable”.
It wasn’t until an autopsy report was released that it was discovered the body belonged to Khadidja O, which led the local media to call it “the doppelgänger murder”.
The confusion prompted police to search through Sharaban K’s social media, where they found messages to several women of similar appearances.
Prosecutors reportedly tracked down, arrested and charged Sharaban K with murder this week and accused her of scrolling through Instagram looking for a victim that could pass as her.
“It has been confirmed that the accused had contacted several women via Instagram before the act who seemed to look similar to her,” Attorney-General Veronika Grieser told local publication Bild.
“It can be assumed that the suspect wanted to go into hiding, due to internal disputes with her family, and fake her own death.”
Police believe Sharaban K lured Khadidja O to meet her with the promise of beauty products, per The New York Post.
Investigators allege she and Sheqir K picked up Khadidja O in a Mercedes, where they drove her to a forest before the alleged murder.
Sheqir K has been charged as an accomplice.
“The murder weapon has still not been found but the burden of proof is overwhelming,” Police spokesman Andreas Aichele said, per Bild.
If found guilty, Sharaban K is facing life in jail.
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