MAN ARRESTED OVER DOUBLE MURDER IN BARANJA SETTLEMENT

( Editorial: --> 0797 ) OSIJEK, July 30 (Hina) - Police have arrested the suspected killer of a married couple, who were murdered earlier this week in the settlement of Topolj in Croatia's north-eastern region of Baranja, Osijek-Baranja County police announced on Thursday. According to police, between 3pm and 4pm on Tuesday afternoon the man travelled towards the victims' home by bicycle, carrying with him two bombs and a knife. He found the couple in the living room and allegedly knifed the woman before turning to her husband, who had risen from the table, and stabbed him in the neck and back. The wife managed to escape into the pantry, however the killer fatally hit her with an axe. The next day he allegedly threw the knife into a channel of the Danube, while the bomb was buried next to a local church. He locked the victims' home and threw the key into the yard of an abandoned home, where it was found, police chief Milan Baricevic said. A search of the killer's home found his clothing which carried traces proving he was at the scene of the events, police said. All evidence from the crime scene have been sent to the Croatian Interior Ministry's forensic experts. Talking about the possible motives for the murder, Baricevic said that in his statement, the suspect had allegedly admitted he had "a particular disliking towards people of Serb nationality" and that during the Homeland War his mother had been maltreated in Topolj. Baricevic confirmed that the dead man was of Serb nationality. Charges against the arrested man have been laid for committing a double murder, while responsibility for further procedures has been left with the county state attorney's office for youth given that the suspect will not be 21 until November, Baricevic said. The man was arrested several hours after police were informed of the murder. (Hina) mbr jn /lml 301731 MET jul 98