German crossbow victims had knockout drug

Two of the three people found dead in a German hotel in May with crossbow bolts lodged in their bodies had been sedated with knockout drugs before they were killed, authorities say.

The dpa news agency reports that investigators believe the victims - a 53-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman - agreed to be killed by a 30-year-old woman whose body was also found in the hotel in Passau.

The bodies of two more women were found several hundred kilometres away in northern Germany at the apartment of the younger woman.

Authorities say those women, aged 35 and 19, likely died of poisoning.

Investigators believe all of the dead were part of a cult-like group centred around the man, who was described by a former member as dominant and manipulative.