Thomas Bögerl and Police Pass Blame

The news today in the banker’s wife kidnapping is getting interesting. It appears from my translation that the German police and banker, Thomas Bögerl, are pointing fingers at each over why they didn’t get the ransom to the kidnappers in time — hence who is partially to blame for Maria Bögerl’s murder.

Read moreFor those of you who haven’t kept up on this story, sadly, Maria Bögerl’s corpse was found earlier this week, and her kidnappers have yet to be identified. While I haven’t made any opinions on the case, I did find Thomas Bögerl’s expressions interesting in this video (see comments), and that is why I am following this case. I do not think someone’s truthfulness can be determined by a facial expression alone, but I am curious if it was a clue.

The news reports that I have translated today say it was 11:30 (half to 12) when the phone rang at Thomas’ office, according to reports. A man with a Swabian accent was on the phone and demanded 300,000 euros in special notes, or he would kill Thomas’ wife, Maria. Thomas was given two and a half hours to get the money and deliver it, but Thomas didn’t get to the spot until 3:27, according to the news report. He just didn’t have enough time. The money sat there until the next morning, when it was inadvertently removed by a highway worker. The kidnappers never claimed it.

The police apparently are arguing that they offered to get the money, but that Thomas insisted he would use his (steal from the bank?). Thomas, however, says that he never insisted he’d get the money, as the amount was a concern. According to the Build, a German newspaper, Thomas informed the police he couldn’t come up with the money at 1:15.

The article doesn’t say how much money was gathered or where it came from, or if it does, I am losing it in the translation. I also have to wonder how far was the bank from Thomas’ office. CMA, a reader to the blog, has provided a more detailed comment, explaining it in more detail below as has “my name“.

To read more on this story, click on the labels below and scroll down for the first story.

Thanks to my German readers for sharing this story with me, and giving me updates.