‘I know that people die slowly when you slaughter them’

taken away, Hesse told officers about the second murder in the nearby Sedanstrasse area of Herne.

The teenager was yesterday still being quizzed about the gruesome killing while teams of forensic specialists were seen entering the burned-out apartment.

Police said Hesse’s second victim was a 22-year-old college friend identified only as Christopher W.

Officials said during his time on the run, Hesse had hidden in a nearby wood before going to his friend Christopher’s home where they played computer games before going to bed.

Next day it is alleged that he murdered Christopher, stabbing him 68 times. He did not leave the apartment again until Thursday night, when he turned himself in, police said.

It has since emerged that Hesse, who was rejected by the German army for being unstable, had sent an image to a friend showing him holding up a bloody blade in Christopher W’s apartment.

Police said Hesse had admitted killing the boy and then Christopher in the burning apartment and described himself as a “brutal killer”.

Reinhard Peters, a lawyer for Jaden’s family, said the boy’s relatives were “pleased” his killer had been captured.

He added: “The family is relieved that he has been captured alive to await the punishment of the law.” The motive for killing the boy, who he lured away from his home, was unclear.

Jaden was found in a pool of blood by his stepfather, identified as Pascal R, aged 34. “The picture of my stepson lying there dead. I will never forget this,” he said. “I found him lying in a giant lake of his own blood.”

Police believe Hesse may have even more victims. Earlier in the week, after going on the run, he alluded to another murder when he wrote in a chat room: “I cut myself in the hand as I fought with the 120kg beast.”

He is also believed to have posted about murdering a woman, although police did not comment on this.