The 22-year-old suspect in the death of 13-year-old Lisa T. from Berlin had a prior conviction, Berlin prosecutors said on Tuesday, correcting earlier statements that he had no criminal record.
According to the Berlin General Public Prosecutor's Office, a district court in Passau sentenced the man to one year in prison, suspended on probation. The verdict became final on November 5, 2026. The conviction had not yet been entered in Germany's Federal Central Register and was therefore not available to Berlin prosecutors, the office said.
Prosecutors also corrected earlier information about more than 900 files containing child sexual abuse material. The files were not discovered in the investigation that Berlin prosecutors opened against the man in January 2025. Instead, the files were allegedly on a mobile phone the suspect was carrying in Passau on November 4, 2025. Passau prosecutors seized the phone.
Evidence and storage devices seized during searches on March 10, 2025, are still being analyzed in Berlin. It remains unclear whether they contain any illegal files, and if so, how many.
Berlin prosecutors did not request an arrest warrant against the suspect in either of their two proceedings. At the time, he had no previous convictions, a permanent home, and could be reached by investigators, the office said.
Prosecutors said the allegations concerning the 900+ files did not differ significantly in seriousness from other cases of acquiring and possessing child sexual abuse material. The sentence he could expect was also not high enough to justify detention over fears he might flee.
Detention to prevent further offenses was not possible either. Under the law, that ground applies only to commercial or gang-based dealing in such material, and there were no signs of that.
Investigators have seized a possible vehicle used in the crime, which is now undergoing forensic examination. How it was found, and whether it is connected to the crime, is part of the ongoing investigation. Prosecutors still assume Lisa T. was apparently a random victim. So far, the investigation has found no reliable evidence of a connection between the suspect and the girl.
Lisa T. had been missing since the morning of Tuesday, November 3. She left home to go to school but never arrived. Her body and the suspect were found on Sunday in an uninhabited single-family house in a district of Bad Freienwalde, Brandenburg. His injuries were apparently self-inflicted, and his condition remains unchanged, prosecutors said.
Investigators identified him on Monday as a German national from Berlin. Forensic tests confirmed the dead girl is Lisa T. A preliminary autopsy found no clear cause of death, and further tests have been ordered. There are no indications of accomplices. The investigation is ongoing.
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