Suckow – At the jetty of the fishing club “Flotter Hecht” on the Oberuckerseee in Suckow in the Uckermark region, it is very busy this Tuesday morning – despite the rain showers, which are sometimes strong and sometimes less violent. A black rubber dinghy is launched into the water. Six men put on their heavy diving equipment. You belong to the Brandenburg police and have been looking for traces of a crime on the bottom of the Große Lanke, the southern tip of the lake, for some time. Today is the last time.
The divers get into the boat, it slowly sets off and drives across the lake towards the reed belt on the other bank, which is difficult to reach by land. Shortly afterwards, the men slide into the water, which is up to nine meters deep. The divers search the bottom meter by meter, they also feel with their hands for clues to five murder victims who are said to have been sunk somewhere over there more than 20 years ago.
Christian Zorn and Michael Adamski watch what is happening from the jetty. One is chief detective of the 5th homicide commission in Berlin, the other investigates serious burglaries in the capital. The case at issue here brought the two criminalists together. Your investigations have resulted in diving in the idyllic lake in the middle of the Schorfheide-Chorin biosphere reserve for a year. It was not uncommon for onlookers to come by from the town. Brandenburg’s former Prime Minister Matthias Platzeck, who lives nearby and is said to have a boat here, also watched the divers once before.
Sabine Gudath
The two investigators Christian Zorn (left) and Michael Adamski at the Oberuckersee.
No wonder, because what could have happened here in the mid to late 1990s is more exciting than any crime thriller. A year and a half ago, a witness sat in front of Christian Zorn and told him an incredible story. The man had weighed heavily on a good friend: Dietmar C., a former Berlin underworld great.
Dietmar C. is said to have told the witness that he killed five people, presumably unpopular competitors. He claims to have wrapped the dead in green plastic sheeting and weighed them down with a piece of concrete in the Oberuckersee. Dietmar C.’s good friend explained that the place was shown to him by the alleged murderer himself. Even after repeated inquiries, the witness remained true to his testimony.
“He made a credible impression, and Dietmar C. could be trusted to do the deeds,” says Christian Zorn now. There were no suitable missing persons reports, which does not mean anything in the milieu. During the investigation, the homicide investigators found out that the accused was a bouncer and pimp who had once made a life confession with Michael Adamski. Back then, in the late 1990s, the criminalist was still investigating the hooligan and bouncer scene.
“Dietmar C. was the most concise personality I had to deal with as a criminalist,” says 63-year-old Adamski. Dietmar C. was then the head of the street prostitute in Schönefeld, who made ruthless use of the firearm. He was also known as a brutal debt collector – especially among construction companies. Dietmar C. made the debtors pay with mock executions. He drove them into a forest, had them dig their own grave.
Dietmar C. confessed to the criminalist about 200 crimes after his arrest. The investigator was able to assign 40 of them to complaints, a quarter were indicted and Dietmar C. was sentenced to several years imprisonment in the early 2000s for aggravated extortion by robbery.
So what if there weren’t just mock executions in Dietmar C.’s life? Christian Zorn could no longer question the suspect. The man was seriously ill when the witness unpacked and died three weeks later in a hospital at the age of 54.
Dietmar C. felt like a professional killer
The investigations revealed that Dietmar C. had a connection to the Oberuckersee. “He’s been on vacation here again and again, camping in black,” says Zorn. And showed his buddy, the witness, the place where he claims to have sunk the bodies. “Maybe Dietmar C. told his buddy the truth, maybe just boasted.”
Because Dietmar C. was a very imaginative person. He saw himself as “Leon – the professional” and wanted to imitate the professional killer of the same name in the film. “He wanted to show what it is like to be ruler over life and death,” says Zorn. Dietmar C. told the witness that he dreams of taking a person into the crosshairs of his telescopic sight from a roof terrace and then shooting them. “We had to check the witness’s testimony. There was only one thing left to be certain: diving. ”
The divers went in search of clues seven times. The investigators on the shores of the Oberuckersee already thought they were very close to the goal. The divers found five barrels at the bottom of the water. The number was correct, but the barrels were empty.
Around 1.30 p.m. this Tuesday, the divers pack their equipment and get the inflatable boat out of the water. You didn’t find anything. “We will now close the case as undetectable,” says murder investigator Zorn. The proceedings will be discontinued. Provisionally. As soon as there are new indications, they will continue to investigate. “Murder does not expire.”
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