Ulrike Marie Meinhof was a West German far-left militant. She co-founded the Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion or RAF) in 1970, after having worked as a journalist for the monthly left-wing magazine konkret. She was arrested in 1972, charged with numerous murders and the formation of a criminal association. In 1976, before the trial concluded, Meinhof was found hanged in her prison cell. The official statement claimed that Meinhof had committed suicide; however, several facts led to public controversy about her death.