German man arrested for driving American teenager to suicide, prosecutors say

German police, acting on a tip from the FBI, have arrested an alleged online sadist accused of pushing a 14-year-old American girl to hang herself, prosecutors announced Friday.

The 18-year-old German was arrested on Thursday in Hamburg, accused of being the indirect perpetrator of murder and serious bodily injury.

FBI Indianapolis Special Agent Timothy J. O’Malley said in a statement that his office worked with the Fort Wayne Police Department to provide information to German police to help advance the arrest. The Fort Wayne Police Department said in a statement that its homicide unit identified a suspect who contributed to the juvenile’s death.

“Anyone who targets or exploits a child needs to understand this: There is no hiding from the law. It doesn’t matter where you live or where you try to hide. The FBI will work with partners around the world to find you and hold you accountable,” O’Malley said.

The suspect was linked to an online group called “Nefarious Maniac Kult” or “NMK,” which is part of a global network known as the labels. “764” or “COM”, said the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office.

From September 2024 to September 2025, the FBI saw a 300% increase in cases of nihilistic violent extremism – many involving Group 764, said FBI Director Kash Patel. The 764 group does not have a specific ideology, but its members openly promote self-harm and violence and encourage victims to produce videos documenting acts of self-harm or child sexual abuse.

Between September and October, the suspect, then aged 17, allegedly “exercised influence” via the social network Discord on the young girl from the state of Indiana whom prosecutors described as “psychologically fragile”.

The suspect allegedly pressured the girl to cut herself and write the letters “NMK” on a wall in her own blood, and asked her to send him video recordings of these actions. Days later, she hanged herself in her bedroom, prosecutors said.

The suspect allegedly sought a video recording of his death, hoping to gain status within the group or gain entry.