AN ONLINE gamer from Frankfurt suspected of murdering a Nottingham student had fallen in love with the victim's girlfriend, it has been reported.

It has also been claimed in Germany David Heiss, 21, had paid a number of visits to Matthew Pyke and Joanna Witton.

Notts police have refused to comment on the claims by a German press agency and say there are a number of lines of inquiry they are investigating.

Heiss was arrested by police in Germany on Wednesday night over the death of 20-year-old student Matthew Pyke.

Today at a court in Frankfurt, Notts Police hope to secure a fast track extradition so they can bring Heiss to Nottingham for questioning.

In a hearing in Limburg an der Hahn near Frankfurt yesterday afternoon, Heiss was ordered to remain in police custody.

He has already been questioned by German police, in co-operation with their Notts counterparts.

Mr Pyke's girlfriend Joanna Witton found his body at their flat in North Sherwood Street, city centre, on Friday night.

At 10.30pm on Tuesday, Heiss wrote a message on her Facebook site which read: "I will pray for you. You must be suffering unbelievable pain. I'm sorry for having caused so much trouble lately. I hope you won't lose all your hope. We will be there for you."

Like Mr Pyke, Heiss was a keen player of the on-line computer strategy game Advance Wars. Mr Pyke ran a website dedicated to the game and German police have confirmed that the pair knew each other through the internet.

Last night, a man known only as Eggy who helped Mr Pyke run his website, wrote: "Matt, you were a great friend, and a great man. I'm not normally at a loss for words, but this is something where I just cannot speak."