Prosecutors were able to track down Hussein K.’s father when they came across a contact on his mobile phone. The defendant told them that they could contact his mother on the number. But when an interpreter called the number in the presence of two judges, the person who picked up was his father.

The older man read out details from his son’s birth certificate which state that he was born on January 29th 1984, presiding judge Kathrin Schenk said in the district court in Freiburg on Friday.

Hussein K. had told German immigration authorities that he had fled Afghanistan after his father was killed in battles with Taliban fighters. Due to the fact that he also said he was 17, he was treated by German authorities as an unaccompanied minor and given foster parents.

But there have been some doubts raised about the father’s testament as the interpreter said he could have been referring to the Persian calendar, which would have to be recalculated.

Previous analysis of a tooth belonging to the defendant also suggests he is at least 22 years of age.

The new evidence could be of crucial importance in determining how long Hussein K.’s sentence will be if he is found guilty. If the judges decide that he was a minor at the time of the crime, he will face a lesser sentence than if he is found to have been an adult.

The defendant has already admitted to raping and strangling his victim until she lost consciousness late at night in a Freiburg park. A postmortem found that she drowned in the river Dreisam.

Hussein K. arrived in Germany in November 2015 without proper documentation. He had already been sent to jail for pushing a young woman from a cliff in Greece, but was released early. He then fled his parole to Germany and Greek authorities failed to issue an international arrest warrant for him.

A verdict on the trial is expected early next year.