Some marriages are made in heaven, this one was sculpted on the operation table. Over more than 10 years and 20 operations, Germany’s wealthiest plastic surgeon and its top breast implant specialist turned his ‘‘ugly duckling’’ apprentice into the bride of his and his countrymen’s dreams. Now the woman with the perfect lips, hips and other nips is accused of committing the perfect murder. Prosecutors have charged Tatjana Gsell, 31, with being the mastermind behind a January robbery in which her estranged husband Franz Gsell, 76, was savagely beaten with an axe. Gsell, who amassed a fortune of some 10 million euros ($11 million) re-sculpting the breasts and bodies of Germany’s rich and famous, died in March after spending three months in a coma. Nuremberg police arrested his black-haired widow, one of Germany’s most-photographed women, last week. ‘‘Tatjana Gsell was arrested on the suspicion that she instigated the robbery that led to his death,’’ said Bernhard Wankel, spokesman for the Nuremberg State Prosecutor’s office. Police have said Franz was alone in his Nuremberg villa when two robbers broke in and beat him with the blunt end of an axe, crushing his chest. They fled with 5,000 euros ($5,490) from his safe and an expensive watch. Wankel said prosecutors had issued an arrest warrant on April 11 for Tatjana, who first caught the surgeon’s eye as his 18-year-old apprentice named Tanja Gick. He then began rebuilding the woman who soon became his wife. German newspapers are filled with stories of how a small-town Bavarian teenage girl with poor skin turned into a woman with gravity-defying curves — with lips, hips and other parts of her anatomy swollen from more than 20 operations. ‘‘My husband has formed me and changed me both on the inside and on the outside,’’ Tatjana said in an interview last year with Germany’s leading celebrity magazine Bunte. During their nine years of marriage, she enjoyed a life of unrivalled luxury, buying fast cars, designer clothes and expensive jewellery. She appeared at celebrity events around the country and even managed to pose in photographs next to political leaders. Due to Franz’s booming business as the country’s most famous plastic surgeon, they often featured in tabloid newspapers, celebrity magazines and television programmes. Most of the articles included pictures of the grey-haired Gsell expertly remodelling the naked chests of women. But many acquaintances doubted if Tatjana actually loved the man who was more than double her age. ‘‘The only thing that Tatjana cared about was luxury, glamour, high society and money,’’ a friend identified only as Sandra was quoted by Bild on Monday. ‘‘She was a chubby ugly duckling when he met her and he turned her into a beautiful swan,’’ she added. ‘‘In public she only admitted to having a new nose, lips and breasts. But Franz also operated on her chin, eyes, and cheek bones. He gave her liposuctions as well.’’ The German media were quick to leap upon the story last year when Tatjana started an affair with a Duesseldorf car dealer named Helmut Becker, 60. The couple even bragged openly about their extra-marital relationship in magazine interviews. A public war of words between the two men over Tatjana filled the gossip columns for months. But when it emerged that Tatjana planned to stay with the car dealer, Franz reportedly issued her an ultimatum — either she had to come back to him before the end of 2002 or he would cut her off financially. He was alone in his villa on January 5 when he was attacked but managed to call police for help. He was taken to hospital in a critical condition and slipped into a coma 11 weeks before dying on March 26. Wankel said Tatjana went underground after the murder and could not be found. ‘‘She was caught in a routine traffic control and arrested.’’ If convicted, Tatjana could face between 10 years and life in prison. Tatjana’s lawyer, Markus Henning, insists prosecutors have no evidence linking her to the crime, or that she did in in order to get the inheritance. While her husband was in hospital, Tatjana was often at his bedside. After he died, she published a death notice that read: ‘‘Our lives are limited, but my love for you is unlimited.’’ A week after his death, Franz’s manager announced the plastic surgeon had left all his wealth to Tatjana. Soon after, Tatjana was quoted in Bild: ‘‘I’ll never have to worry about money ever again.’’ (Reuters)
