Murder on the Inca Trail: German TV Exposes Husband's Crime
German insurance fraud turned deadly in Peru
Quick Facts
The Fatal Shot on a Honeymoon Trek
Petra Fehre from Bochum was on an adventurous honeymoon trek when she was struck by a bullet to the head on the famous Inca Trail on August 11, 1997. Hours later, she died in a hospital in Cusco. Her husband Markus Fehre was the only witness to what would turn out to be a calculated murder.
German police would later prove that Markus Fehre had planned the murder to receive his wife's life insurance payout of 300,000 Deutsche Mark—a substantial sum at the time.
Peruvian Police on the Wrong Track
When Petra was found with a gunshot wound to the head, Peruvian police assumed it was a robbery gone wrong—bandits passing through the area. But gradually it became clear that there had been no robbery, no other victims were attacked, and no perpetrator was found.
When Markus Fehre returned to Germany just weeks later in October 1997, the Peruvian authorities did little to advance the case. German police had to take over.
German Investigation Yields Breakthrough
The prosecution office in Bonn assigned criminal investigator Elke B. to the case—and she immediately became suspicious of the husband. She was right.