Karl SmallmanPOLICE across Europe are searching through files of unsolved murders after a lorry driver in Germany was arrested in connection with a six-year killing spree across the continent.
Volker Eckert, 47, was detained in Cologne last month on suspicion of the murders of five prostitutes in Spain and France.
Police also want to question Eckert about his possible involvement in the deaths of at least three women in Germany.
Eckert was detained on an international arrest warrant issued by Spanish authorities after his lorry was filmed leaving the sports ground in Hostalrich, near Barcelona, where the body of a Bulgarian prostitute was found last month.
German police claim Eckert admitted to that killing and four more in Spain and France after his arrest on November 17. He later told police he killed a sixth woman in the former East Germany in the 1970s.
Police found a macabre collection of mementos – taken from his supposed victims – in the cab of the lorry he drove around Europe. Among the discoveries were Polaroid photographs of dead women, items of clothing and locks of hair.
Newspaper reports claim a satellite tracking system used by the haulage company Eckert worked for allowed police to trace his movements.
