Asylum seeker gets life sentence for murder

An asylum seeker claiming to be from Afghanistan was sentenced to life in jail in Germany for the rape and murder of a student that stoked a public backlash against the influx of migrants. Hussein Khavari, of uncertain age and origin, attacked medical student Maria Ladenburger, 19, in October 2016 in the university town of Freiburg. Khavari pushed her off her bicycle, bit, choked and raped her and left her on the bank of a river where she drowned. He was arrested seven weeks after the murder. Police found a black hair partially dyed blond at the scene, then spotted Khavari by his hairstyle on security camera footage; they later linked him to the crime using DNA. Khavari arrived in Germany in November 2015 as an unaccompanied minor claiming to be 16 or 17 years old.