Suspect held in air traffic controller's fatal stabbing

ZURICH, Switzerland -- A man -- apparently a Russian -- who lost his wife and two children in an airplane collision has been arrested on suspicion that he stabbed to death the air traffic controller on duty at the time of the accident, officials said Thursday. Law enforcement officials declined to identify the man or give his nationality, but evidence they disclosed indicated the 48-year-old man -- who spoke only broken German -- was a Russian on a visit to Switzerland. Prosecutor Pascal Gossner said the man has denied killing the 36-year-old controller at the victim's home near Zurich airport Tuesday night. The Danish-born controller was working alone when 71 people, including 45 Russian schoolchildren headed for a vacation in Spain, were killed in the July 1, 2002, collision in the southern German area for which he was responsible.

"The man had an alibi for the time of the crime, and that is now being checked," said Georges Dulex, Zurich criminal police chief. "The evidence so far, however, places the man in the center of the investigation."

Gossner said the man's wife, son and daughter were among the victims in the in-flight collision of a Russian charter airliner and a cargo plane.

Dulex and Gossner declined to give the identity or nationality of the suspect.

At least two Russian men lost a wife and two children in the crash, the Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing a lawyer for the crash victims' families.

Gossner said the suspect had attracted attention with his "angry demeanor" at a memorial service at the crash site in Ueberlingen, Germany, and that it was possible he made a first trip to Switzerland after the service 18 months ago.

He said the arrested man had been in Switzerland since Feb. 18 -- six days before the slaying.

Igor Petrov, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Bern, told AP that no Swiss officials had contacted the embassy about the arrest and that he was unable to identify the suspect.

"We, of course, are shocked by the killing," Petrov said. "We grieve with the family of the victim."

The air traffic controller, who had lived in Switzerland for more than eight years, had never been formally identified under Swiss privacy laws, but Danish media gave his name as Peter Nielsen. Police Capt. Hans Baltensperger said the victim and his wife had a son and a daughter.

Dulex said the killer was seen in the controller's neighborhood Tuesday afternoon. A woman approached the man and asked what he wanted. He showed her a slip of paper and asked for directions to the victim's home. The woman showed him the way.

The victim, who noticed the man sitting on a garden seat in his back yard, went out to speak to him, Dulex said.

There was a short conversation, and the controller's wife heard "a sort of cry" as she stopped her children from coming outside, Dulex said. When the woman turned around, she saw her husband on the ground and the attacker running away.

The controller bled to death from numerous stab wounds and incisions, Dulex said. His heart, lungs and other internal organs were damaged.

The suspect was arrested late Wednesday in a rented room in the vicinity of the slaying, the police chief added.

The suspected weapon -- a folding knife with a 5.5-inch blade -- was discovered Wednesday evening close to the scene of the attack, Dulex said. He said the knife was being examined, and that he didn't know if any fingerprints were found.

The controller, who was alone in the Zurich control room because a colleague was taking a break, gave less than a minute's warning to the two planes that they were getting too close.

Preliminary accident reports have said that the controller then told the Russian plane to descend, countermanding the jetliner's onboard collision-avoidance system which was demanding it climb.

The pilot followed the instructions of the controller -- sending the jetliner straight into the DHL cargo plane, which also was descending in accordance with its collision-avoidance equipment.

German authorities have not yet released their full report on the collision.