Hells Angels ‘linked to chainsaw killing’

Two of the world’s most feared motorcycle crime gangs are on the radar of homicide investigators after an Austrian was cut into pieces in Berlin.

A friend of tattooist Raoul Schmidhuber identified the discovered torso of the man due to his significant tattoos. Police divers found the body part in the Spree River a few days after an angler discovered his legs and arms. Kids playing near a pond had stumbled across the 31-year-old man’s head earlier this week.

Newspapers in the capital of Germany report today (Fri) that detectives assumed members of infamous crime syndicates Hells Angels and Bandidos might have been involved in the killing. A night club popular with members of the gangs is located closely to one of the places where parts of the murdered man were found. Police are allegedly also suspicious of the fact that the clubhouse of a gang of renegades who joined the Hells Angels after leaving the Bandidos is not far from one of the locations where body parts were discovered.

The German divisions of the internationally represented Hells Angels and the Bandidos have been in the news over the past few years for a series of fatal clashes among members. Experts have voiced doubts whether there was any substance to a recently announced peace agreement.

Daily press in Berlin write today that, according to the autopsy, Schmidhuber was clubbed to death before he was cut into pieces with a saw. Investigators are currently considering more than 20 tip-offs. None of the people who got in touch about the murder are based in Austria, according to a spokeswoman. The official also explained that Schmidhuber – who left Austria to settle in Berlin’s Pankow district half a year ago – had no criminal record in his homeland nor abroad.

Press in the city are speculating that the former resident of Hallein, Salzburg, may have been addicted to alcohol or drugs. Speaking to the Berliner Zeitung, one of his clients described Schmidhuber as a “kind and friendly person,” while a tattooist said his colleague was “a bit freaked out.”