Their neighbors allegedly killed Bernard von Bredow and his daughter Lydia in Paraguay. Previously, Bernard had asked his neighbor Volker Grannass to look after his Stradivarius violins. This decision made by Bernard turned out to be fatal for him and his daughter.

58-year-old Grannass and two other Germans are now in police custody. The police found 4 of Bernard’s Stradivarius violins in Grannas’s house. Police Commissioner Hugo Grance reported that Bernard and Lydia were tortured and killed.

Father Bernard was found hurled on a table with a bullet wound in his head. Bernard also had bruises all over his body. Daughter Lydia was found dead in a bathtub with a gunshot wound in her belly. Grance further disclosed that the murders took place somewhere else, and the bodies were later brought inside their homes.

Evidence from the scene revealed more than two people involved in the crime, and the killers were looking for something of value.

Bernard von Bredow, 62, and his 14-year-old daughter were found dead in their home with signs of torture likely over a fight over the valuable violins https://t.co/3f1JUPJbQ2

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) November 12, 2021

Bernard was 62 years, and his daughter Lydia was only 14 years old when they were killed. Bernard was known for discovering woolly mammoth fossils in 1975 and an Ice Age European lion of Bravia. He was also a violin maker.

Bernard had multiple original Stradivarius violins in his possession which Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari made. Antonia has a unique way of handling wood and only made 960 pieces of violins which made them extremely valuable. Currently, only 650 Stradivarius violins are in existence.

Commissioner Grance stated that the Stradivarius violins could not be sold without authentic certification. Volker Grannass hired 60-year-old Yves Asriel Spartacus Steinmetz and 51-year-old Stephen Jorg Messing Darchinger to torture Bernard and Lydia to get his hand on the certificate.

The three German men have not been charged with murder yet because the case is still in the investigation phase. Prosecutors on the case stated that it was only a matter of time before the court punished the three for such a horrible crime. As of now, it is not known where the certificates of the violins are.