The unnamed suspect, now 70, is said to have killed the victim at his home in Munich.

The 69-year-old man who died was last seen on 30 December 1978 in the company of a younger man, according to police.

The victim's body was found in a bathtub three days later on 2 January 1979 after he failed to respond to calls from concerned relatives.

A post mortem examination found he died from at least 10 blows to the head, believed to have been inflicted with a 1kg (2.2lb) bronze pestle.

The murder weapon was found at the scene, together with three fingerprints that could not be attributed to anyone at the time.

Cash and keys were stolen from the property, as well as a ring that was discovered on a building site at Munich's main station.

Investigators offered a reward and issued an identikit picture of the man's companion but were unable to locate a suspect at the time.

Evidence at the scene was examined for DNA in 2005 - before officials re-examined their files again in 2018, initially without success.

It was only in November 2021 that a fingerprint match was made to a person living in England.

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German prosecutors sought an arrest warrant in January before the suspect was arrested at the end of March.

He was extradited in early April to the Bavarian city, where he remains in custody.

An indictment against the suspect has been filed at the state court in Munich, prosecutor Juliane Grotz said.

Police investigator Stephan Beer said the suspect told an officer when he was being transferred to Germany that he was in Munich in 1978.

He is not thought to have a previous police record in Germany.

Mr Beer said: "Files are not closed here if we think we still have promising investigations. That was the case here."

German officials have not named the victim or the suspect in accordance with its privacy rules.