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Four violins believed to have been made by acclaimed Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari around 250 years ago are at the centre of a double murder story.

The rare antique violins have the potential to sell for millions of dollars on the open market, but they require a certificate proving their authenticity to do so.

It is alleged that two Germans and a Chilean were involved in a plot to retrieve the certificates of authenticity from their friend’s house, which ended in murder.

VICE reports that the violins were found in the home of 58-year-old German Volker Grannas. He is one of the men arrested and detained for the murder of Bernard Raymond von Bredow (below), 62, a museum owner and luthier, along with his 14-year-old daughter Lydia.

Image: L. VIA FACEBOOK.COM/BERNARDRAYMOND.VONBREDOW; R. KATHRIN ZIEGLER VIA GETTY IMAGES

Von Bredow and his daughter were found murdered in a small town a few kilometres outside of the capital of Asuncion, Paraguay, on October 22:

At the time, police investigator Hugo Grance said that authorities suspected the two victims had been shot to death in a robbery. But on Wednesday, he said the two were killed because the suspects were searching for certificates of authenticity for four Stradivarius violins that had belonged to von Bredow.

On Wednesday, Grance announced the arrest of two Germans, Volker Grannas, 58, and Ives Asriel Spartacus Steinmetz, 60, along with the detention of Stephen Jorg Messing Darchinger, 51, from Chile.

Here’s an aerial view of the von Bredow residence, where the murder took place:

Image: Jorge Sáenz/AP

Von Bredow reportedly founded a museum in Germany focusing on mammoths, after he discovered an intact mammoth skeleton near his hometown in the state of Bavaria when he was a teenager, reported The Guardian.

He later moved to Paraguay and settled in a town popular among German expats where he quickly became known as an antique violin connoisseur.

He could never have known that his 17th and 18th century Stradivari violins would be the death of him and his daughter.

The detained men were supposed to be close friends of von Bredow. So much so that he trusted Grannas to keep the violins safe as he travelled to Germany.

When von Bredow returned, Grannas supposedly informed his “friend” that the instruments were destroyed during a fire.

Later, von Bredow’s house was found in tatters, with his slain body showing signs of torture alongside his dead daughter.

Here’s Lorena Ledesma, one of the lead investigators on the murders:

“To commit the crime and such a brutal murder it must be because they knew the victims. We’ve found a lot of evidence,” said Ledesma.

Ledesma claimed that they found various guns in Grannas’ house, and discovered an additional gun that they believed to have been involved in the murders in Darchinger’s residence. She also said they found maps that showed where the authenticity certificates were located in the victims’ house.

“It’s like something out of a movie,” said Ledesma.

Officials have reason to believe that more people were involved, and are thus searching for further evidence and suspects.

[sources:vice&theguardian]