Mere hours before trial was set to begin, 96-year-old suspected war criminal Irmgard Furchner fled justice in Itzehoe, Germany, on Thursday, September 30. She’s accused of complicity in the murder of 11,000 people at the Stutthof concentration camp in what is now Poland between 1943 and 1945.
German media report she left the senior care home where she lives by taxi but failed to appear in court. A warrant was issued for her arrest. Law-enforcement managed to find her within several hours and the court must now decide whether she represents a real flight risk, and should be jailed before court proceedings resume on October 19.