A burglar, who is believed to have struck 500 times in Germany and Austria since 1996, was identified Monday as a Uruguayan after he had spent 12 days in custody, stubbornly refusing to talk, according to dpa. Police, who suspect he holds the German record for serial burglary, believe he cold-bloodedly shot dead one of his rich victims, a 39-year-old Hamburg realtor who chased him after a 2004 break-in. Police say the fearless mystery man often coolly searched rooms where householders were sleeping, and burgled some homes twice if pickings were rich. Hesse state police said fingerprints obtained from Rome through Interpol had identified him as a 62-year-old man from Uruguay who already had a criminal record in Italy and other nations. When caught, he was carrying a forged Italian passport. Over the years, police had speculated he might be from eastern Europe as he did stints of nightly burglary in various German cities, always focussing on the homes of the very well-off. Despite many sightings of the stocky, grey-haired suspect, who is 158 centimetres tall, he was always gone when police arrived. He was captured May 30 by police lying in wait for him in the central city of Wiesbaden, where he regularly broke into plush homes, using a hand-drill to silently dismantle window frames. Police have also tracked down his apartment in the city of Mainz, along with what appeared to be some of the booty. Police say DNA traces from the Hamburg murder and 50 break-ins matches with his saliva.
