Police tape

‘I’ve just seen a boy murdered on the internet’: Man stabs little boy to death, brags about killing online

“I found him lying in a giant lake of his own blood”

A 19-year-old German man has been arrested after confessing to the stabbing murder of a nine year-old boy, according to the BBC. He is believed to have shared video and still images of the brutal killing online.

Marcel Hesse, who lives in Herne, reportedly went to his neighbor’s house when the parents were out and asked 9-year-old Jaden, whose surname has not been revealed, to come help him set up a ladder in his apartment. According to The Sun, the man then stabbed the child over 40 times — while allegedly recording and broadcasting a video of the killing on the “dark web,” a part of the internet that requires special software and is largely untraceable, and therefore often host to illegal activities.

According to The Sun, a dark web user saw the video and contacted authorities. “I’ve just seen a boy murdered on the internet,” he reportedly said.

When the parents came home to find that Jaden had gone next door, they reportedly went to Hesse’s home and banged on the door, but no one answered.

Jaden’s stepfather Pascal R. reportedly told a German newspaper that he and his stepsons climbed over balcony to get into a basement area of the house, where they found Jaden’s lifeless body, bloody from multiple stab wounds.

“The picture of my stepson lying there dead….I will never forget this,” Pascal R., reportedly told a German newspaper. “I found him lying in a giant lake of his own blood.”

Hesse was apprehended by police after initially going on the run. According to the German newspaper Bild, the suspect went into a restaurant on Thursday, shouting, “Call the police, I’m wanted.”

After his arrest, Hesse reportedly led officers to the body of a woman he is also suspected of killing. Investigators told BBC the suspect is believed to have bragged about her murder online as well, saying that she “put up more of a fight than the child.”