- A woman in Germany was sentenced to life in prison for murdering her “doppelgänger” in 2022.
- The victim’s family in Algeria found out about the verdict three weeks later.
- They say they were kept in the dark throughout the trial.
A woman and her male accomplice were sentenced to life in prison following an 11-month murder trial in Germany that made international headlines.
The case ended with their convictions for the victim’s murder in August 2022, which was described as her killer’s doppelgänger.
However, the family of the victim, Khadidja O., claims they were kept in the dark while hundreds of miles away in Algeria.
“We didn’t know anything,” Khadidja’s younger sister, Ahlem Boudjemaâ, told Business Insider about the trial.
She found out about the verdict when a BI reporter contacted her three weeks after the sentencing.
While Khadidja’s father was represented at the trial, her Algerian family was denied access.
A language barrier and complex family dynamics may have contributed to the German authorities’ failure to communicate with the murder victim’s relatives abroad.
The ‘doppelgänger murder’
Khadidja, a 23-year-old beauty influencer based in Heilbronn, Germany, was killed 2½ years ago.
Prosecutors said Khadidja was tracked down on Instagram by a woman who resembled her in an attempt to fake her own death.
Shahraban K., a 25-year-old Iraqi German woman, was accused of orchestrating the murder.
(In Germany, it is customary to refer to victims and defendants only by their first names and initials.)
Prosecutors said Shahraban, with the help of an accomplice named Sheqir K., duped Khadidja into a trap by offering her a free cosmetic treatment.
For a while, authorities thought Shahraban had been killed.
In August 2022, police discovered a bloodied body with numerous stab wounds and initially identified it as hers.
However, an autopsy later revealed that the victim was Khadidja, who police described as having a “striking resemblance” to Shahraban.
Following this discovery, Shahraban and, later, Sheqir were named as suspects in the murder. The killing captivated the media, becoming known as the “doppelgänger murder.”
Partway through the trial, prosecutors claimed that Shahraban had previously attempted to hire someone to murder a relative.
Both defendants were eventually found guilty of Khadidja’s murder, and Shahraban was also convicted of attempted incitement to murder her brother-in-law.
Thomas Schlappa, a press officer for Ingolstadt’s regional court, confirmed that the two defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment on December 19.
He stated that Shahraban’s actions were considered so severe that probation is “not an option.”
Left in the dark
The victim’s father, who lives in Germany and hasn’t communicated with family members in Algeria since a contentious divorce, was represented in court.
The rest of Khadidja’s family in Oran, Algeria, lacked legal representation and received little information throughout the trial.
They claimed they only found out about the verdict on January 8, nearly three weeks later, after Business Insider messaged them.
“I don’t know why they did this to us,” Boudjemaâ, Khadidja’s younger sister, said of German officials, who had previously stated that the relatives deserved access to information about the case.
Nonetheless, Khadidja’s Algerian family felt constantly left in the dark throughout the trial.
“I waited every day for news, but there was nothing new,” Boudjemaâ said.
They felt marginalized from the start, and it took 10 days for them to learn of Khadidja’s death.
Boudjemaâ claims she was contacted by Khadidja’s friends via social media and had to inform her mother.
(The Ingolstadt state prosecutor’s office disputes this, claiming that records show that the family in Algeria was informed of the murder.)
Cherifa Bouch, Khadidja’s mother, told BI in July that she believed German authorities had done little to assist her. She stated that they gave her an incorrect email address.
Bouch, who is disabled from a brain hemorrhage, went on a fact-finding mission to Germany, but learned little.
In statements to BI at the time, Veronika Grieser of the Ingolstadt state prosecutor’s office described the lack of communication as a misunderstanding.
She stated that when relatives inquire about significant developments in a trial, the state prosecutor’s office generally tries to provide information.
“We very much regret that the victim’s mother feels inadequately informed by the authorities,” she responded. “Of course, the victim’s relatives have a right to information about the status of the proceedings and, of course, about the dates of the main hearing.”
This week, the state prosecutor’s office stated that Khadidja’s Algerian family members had not contacted them.
Schlappa, of Ingolstadt’s regional court, told BI via email that the outcome of the proceedings had been shared in a press release, which appeared to imply that the Algerian family was excluded due to a lack of legal representation at the trial.
“The victim’s father was a co-plaintiff in the main hearing and was represented by a lawyer appointed by the court,” he told reporters. “To what extent the father has or had contact with any relatives in Algeria is not known here.”
When news of the sentencing reached Algeria, Boudjema’s reaction was conflicting.
“I don’t know if there is justice,” she said. “My sister is dead, she is gone, and she will not return.”
