Europe's Strangest Unsolved Mystery

this is the story of Germany's strangest unsolved mystery on January 7 2005 a man was found burned alive in a police cell the police claim it was a suicide the man was alone in his cell and said his mattress on fire but he was restrained his wrists and ankles were Shackled the mattress was fireproof and he had no lighter on him to ignite a blaze so how did he burn to death nearly 20 years have gone by and we still don't know what really happened that they activists lawyers and nonprofits are still trying to uncover the truth in this video we're diving into the conflicting stories the unanswered questions and the the evidence that's kept this case alive pay close attention every detail matters [Music] [Music] [Music] oh desau is a city in Eastern Germany it's early morning let's start with the version of events As Told by the local police shortly after 8:00 a. m. the phone rings at desau police station Bata H the officer in charge of patrols today picks up a woman from the city cleaning crew claims that she and her colleagues are being harassed she asks for police assistance beata H calls Patrol officers Hans M and Udo s she tells them that four women from the city cleaning crew are being harassed by a foreigner quite aggressively even she also says the man has tried to grope them Patrol officers Hans M and Udo s arrive at the scene a man called URI Yello is standing about 10 to 20 met away from the women leaning against the wall he seems to have been partying and is visibly drunk the officers request to see his ID but yellow refuses they handcuff him and put him into their patrol car to confirm his ID back at the station yellow is still handcuffed when the two officers bring him to the medical room in the station's basement they search him and check his pockets yellow resists banging his head against the wall and table in the act in his pockets they find a temporary residence permit it's crumpled and the birth year is illegible the officers decide to detain him until they can confirm his identity DrB the uncalled doctor arrives to take a blood sample yellow resists again the officers pin him down on the stretcher while the me draws his blood his BAC is at 2.

98% that's extremely high enough to make him lose his conscience or even induce a coma the two men are joined by a third officer and together they take yellow to holding cell number five they handcuff him to the bed frame by his hands and feet because they're worried he might harm himself they step out of the cell and lock the door leaving yellow alone Udo s and Hans oish M finish up some paperwork before heading back out on patrol shift supervisor Andreas s and his Deputy Bata H are informed by a colleague that someone has been restrained in cell number five Bata H turns on the intercom to monitor the inmates activity there's no video surveillance urio repeatedly asks to be uncuffed she tells him to calm down beata H hears a rattling noise through the intercom she assumes it's just routine movement during a cell check and doesn't think much of it shortly after Bata H and her colleague SC perform a cell check yellow seems to have calmed down they locked the door to her cell and head back upstairs over the intercom be H hears orello call out again demanding to be uncuffed Andreas s is about to make a phone call so he turns the intercom volume down beata H hears a strange noise like something rustling and splashing followed by a piercing beep the fire alarm Andrea's s assumes it's a false alarm and turns it off yellow starts yelling for help the fire alarm goes off again through the intercom they can hear the crackling sound of flames beata H tells her Superior go check already move according to the report the last words beata age hears from urri Yello are Ani fire Andrea's s heads down to the basement and opens the door to cell number five the fire is intense and the room is filled with thick black smoke beata H calls the fire department saying they could use a fire truck by the time the firefighters arrive yellow is already long dead the mattress has burned to Ash his body is charred down to deep skin layers after the fire the criminal PD in stendal a city close by picks up the investigation ation despite standard protocol they do not consult a fire expert the crime scene crew sweeps up the debris from the fire they will later find a lighter in the ashes Witnesses are interviewed evidence is collected the state criminal police sends a videographer to document the forensic process at this point the police are already convinced that yellow has set the fire himself and according to their Theory yellow must have torn the fire resistant coating of the mattress and used a lighter to ignite the flamable foam ins sight a lighter the officers must have missed during the initial search and he must have done all this with his limbs spread out and his hands and feet Shackled to a metal bed frame they believe he was trying to get their attention so they would uncuff him then the fire must have got out of control that same day Ur Yo's body is transferred to the forensic medicine in Hal the coroner there finds no sign of violence inflicted prior to the fire yellow skull appears to be intact this is the official version of the events it's the version recounted in exhaustive detail at a local Court in 2007 the trial is supposed to shed light on what happened that Friday morning almost most all Witnesses are government officials most of them police the trial lasts 59 days stretched over a year and a half standing trial are Andreas s and Hans oish m s faces charges for ignoring the fire alarm M allegedly failed to find the lighter when he patted down orelo they are both acquitted this video really matters to us we've Port months of research care and effort into telling this story tackling such important topics wouldn't be possible without the support of great sponsors brilliant is a Hands-On learning platform that combines engaging video tutorials with Interactive Learning by doing lessons it offers thousands of courses in math data analysis programming and AI their first principles approach breaks down complex ideas into simple digestible steps that way they help you truly understand Concepts from the ground up kind of similar to what we are trying to achieve with our own videos if you like those you'll love brilliant the goal is to not just absorb information but to gain real skills dive into programming projects that mimic real world challenges explore the inner workings of AI systems like CET GPT or analyze data to uncover hidden patterns scan this QR code or visit brilliant. org Fern to explore everything brilliant has to offer free for 30 days plus enjoy 20% off an annual premium subscription when you sign up the trial raises countless questions Witnesses either clam up or contradict themselves memories are foggy and crucial pieces of evidence have vanished in mysterious fashion from the very start it feels like everyone involved is closing ranks and covering for each other even the judge is appalled what we have seen here was not a fair trial police officers who should be upholding Justice have prevented any chance of finding the truth none of those officers who lie to us here should be entitled to wear a badge in this country about 4 years later there's an extensive retrial at a Regional Court this time Duty Chief Andreas s is convicted of involuntary manslaughter and find about $155,000 the verdict sends shock waves through Germany activists journalists and legal experts pick up on the case the initiative in memory of urio established back in 2005 gains wide support today there are thousands of pages of Investigation files court documents expert reports parliamentary inquiries fire experiments forensic exams and filtered Court letters medical examiners fire experts chemists Radiologists toxicologists and criminologists have all poured over the case their findings fundamentally contradict the official version of events as stated by the police almost every detail in the official story is riddled with inconsistencies misconduct and unsolved questions so let's take another look at what happened that morning on January 7 2005 according to the women on the city cleaning crew uro followed them and asked if he could use one of their phones at one point he tucked on one of the women's backpacks over the phone with beata h they described feeling quote harassed but when Bata H relays this to the patrol officers on the phone she exagger Ates she says the cleaners have been massively harassed and claims yellow was trying to grope the women Gabriela H has represented Yo's family as a lawyer and followed the case for over 10 years the officers arrive at the scene they find yellow standing several meters away from the women leaning against a wall completely drunk the situation has already diffused still Hans M and Udo s approach yellow and say passport Amigo he refuses both officers are tall while URI is Slim and only 5' 7 about 170 cm he doesn't stand a chance he is forced to the ground and pushed into the patrol car legal experts will later conclude that this has been an unlawful detention the officers should have provided a reason for demanding to see his ID they're also not allowed to use force on anyone without prior warning according to the police URI yellow banged his head against the wall and table there will in fact be a blood stain found and attributed to Yellow but the blood is never tested to see if it matches his DNA and oddly enough it is found on the lack of the table the police also claimed they had to hold him in custody to confirm his ID but the truth is that at this point yellow's complete details were already recorded in the custody log including his supposedly elgible year of birth around this time shift supervisor Andreas s reaches out to the onall doctor B The Exchange is documented in the court record we need you to come in what's up just a test all right I'll handle it you'll get to pinch a black African holy I can never find a vein with these dark skinned folks well bring a special needle then we'll do DrB proceeds to draw blood from yellow Udo s and Hans olish M insist that yellow was extremely aggressive they claim he put up such a fight they had to restrain him so DrB could go through with it three other officers who were partly present during the scene will later contradict this account according to them there were no disturbances during the first trial even DrB himself confirmed things went smoothly when he drew the blood during the retrial however he refused to testify physically restraining someone and holding them down to draw blood without their consent is a serious violation of basic rights and doing so without a formal warrant is straight up illegal urio should have been released by now instead three police officers escort him from the medical room to cell number five they proceed to chain his hands and feet to the bed beata H hears some clattering sounds over the intercom she assumes it's a routine cell check however no cell inspection is recorded in the custody log for 1130 a. m.