German police start autopsies in mystery crossbow deaths

German forensic investigators were performing autopsies Monday on three people found dead in a hotel room with crossbow bolts in their heads and chests, police said. Detectives were hoping for clues to the mysterious deaths of one man and two women in the Bavarian town of Passau near the Austrian border.

The corpses, all of the German citizens, were discovered by hotel staff Saturday around noon, alongside two crossbows. A third crossbow was later found packed inside a bag, police said.

The three were a 33-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man from Rhineland-Palatinate state and a 30-year-old woman from Lower Saxony, who had arrived Friday. "There are currently no indications that other persons were involved," said police spokesman Stefan Gaisbauer.

Local media reported that the man and the 33-year-old woman were found dead in the bed, holding hands, with bolts in their heads and chests, while the 30-year-old woman was found lying on the floor with a bolt in her chest. Reports said the three had arrived Friday from different parts of Germany and had all checked in without luggage.

They only returned to their cars later, after the reception was closed, to get the bags containing the crossbows. One of the women had booked the triple room for 85 euros a night, without breakfast, for three nights.

"It was a strange group," a guest recalled, according to the newspaper Bild, saying that the bearded man wore a suit while the women were dressed in black. They had all wished a "good evening", taken glasses of soft drink and water, and then disappeared into the second-floor room as rain fell outside.

Police said the town's prosecutor had ordered the autopsies which aimed to ascertain the cause and circumstances of the deaths. Initial results from the post-mortem investigations were expected by Tuesday morning, police said.

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