German court starts trial after homeless man's body found in suitcase

Three men accused of holding a homeless man captive and causing bodily harm resulting in death are on trial before a German regional court, reported dpa.

Four years ago, bones and skull fragments of a 48-year-old man were discovered in a park in the western German city of Mönchengladbach.

The accused had allegedly held the man captive and, after his death, hid the body in a suitcase in the park.

On the first day of the trial on Wednesday, the three defendants, aged between 31 and 34, only gave their personal details.

According to the indictment, one of them had forced the homeless man to come with him to his flat in October 2018 and held him there.

"The homeless man only went along out of fear of the physically superior defendant," the prosecutor said. She assumes that the 31-year-old man wanted to collect the victim's unemployment benefit in order to be able to pay debts of €200.

The homeless man was allegedly kicked and beaten by the men.

In early December 2018, he is believed to have collapsed lifeless. The men allegedly packed the body in a suitcase and hid it in the bushes.