A 2012 burglary case has finally been put to rest after DNA found on a half-eaten sausage at the scene matched that of a felon arrested in France for an unrelated crime.

The hungry burglar

German police have solved a nine-year-old burglary case after DNA samples taken at the scene matched that of a man who was recently arrested in France. The suspect, a 30-year-old Albanian man, was evidently rather peckish when committing the robbery in Gevelsberg all the way back in 2012, as his DNA was found on a half-eaten sausage.

According to officers from North Rhine-Westphalia, the DNA found on the sausage did not produce any matches at the time. Rather, the link was made several years later, when police took a DNA sample from the man, who was involved in a differente case in France. The DNA was eventually matched with the sample taken from the sausage through an automatic comparison with international police databases.

Burglar unlikely to face charges in Germany

Police in the nearby town of Schwelm, who received a message from the French police regarding the DNA match, have said that the statute of limitations on the burglary has expired and the suspect is therefore unlikely to be extradited to Germany.