Murder of German tourist in Denmark 'may have been inspired by Netflix series'

Police said a copycat effect may also be contributing to the dangerous trend

The tile and cobblestone dropped on a car carrying German tourists through Denmark on 21 August (Fyns Politi)

The suspected murder of a German mother travelling in a car with her family may have been inspired by a Netflix horror series, police say.

The 33-year-old woman was sitting in the back seat next to her five-year-old son when a large tile and cobblestone were dropped from an overpass onto the vehicle in Denmark.

She was killed instantly, while her 36-year-old husband was seriously injured in the drivers’ seat. Their son was unharmed in the incident on 21 August.

Police are investigating it as a murder and attempted murderer, saying the 30kg stone tile appeared to have been thrown deliberately from a motorway overpass in Blommenslyst.

It was just one of several recent stone-throwing incidents on Denmark’s roads, including an ambulance hit as it rushed a patient in cardiac arrest to hospital near Aalborg on Monday.

Michael Lichtenstein, the commissioner of Funen Police, said the apparent trend may be inspired by a Netflix series called Slasher that has recently started showing in the country.

“In connection with our investigation we have been made aware of a Netflix series that includes an episode in which a person throws a concrete block down on a driving car,” he told Jyllands-Posten newspaper, according to a translation by The Local.

“The series is called Slasher. A resident directed our attention to it and it can’t be ruled out that someone may have been inspired by it, just like all of those people who are going around doing it may have been inspired by our current case.”

A trailer for the Canadian series shows a clip from episode three, where a woman drops a concrete block onto a moving car in a murder attempt.

No one has been arrested in relation to the attack on the German tourists’ car, with local residents and businesses offering rewards for information.

Netflix has not yet responded to The Independent’s request for a comment.