Liechtenstein In Shock Over Suspected Murders, Suicide

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

VADUZ (Worthy News) – The Alpine principality of Liechtenstein, one of Europe’s smallest countries, spent Christmas in shock over what authorities described as the worst killings in recent history, amid suspicions of a triple murder followed by suicide.

Police in the tiny, wealthy nation of roughly 40,000 people, which in past years has often gone without recording a single murder, confirmed that two men and two women were found dead.

Authorities said the body of a 41-year-old man was first discovered late Wednesday on the Swiss side of the Rhine River, near Vaduz, Liechtenstein’s capital.

Subsequent searches led officers to an apartment in Vaduz, where the bodies of a 73-year-old man, a 68-year-old woman, and a 45-year-old woman were found, officials said.

Authorities believe the three found in the apartment were the man’s parents and sister.

Police said the 41-year-old man was a senior employee of the municipality of Triesen, south of Vaduz, who had been suspended days earlier over “irregularities in municipal accounts,” with 71,000 Swiss francs (about $90,000) reported missing.

INVESTIGATION STILL UNDERWAY

The cause of death for all four remains unclear, and autopsies are underway, officials said.

The victims’ names were not immediately released.

Liechtenstein’s state police’s criminal investigation department said it is investigating the deaths with a large deployment of officers.

“The investigation is proceeding in all directions,” police added, stressing that “there is no danger to the public.”

Until this Christmas, Liechtenstein—known for its banks and picturesque mountainous surroundings—had long been regarded as one of the safest countries in the world, with extremely low levels of violent crime, making the case particularly shocking for the close-knit population.

Authorities have not released further details, including a possible motive or the precise circumstances surrounding the deaths, as the investigation continues.

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