court verdict
“He wasn’t able to see the injustice of what he did”: the Würzburg knife stabber has to go to a psychiatric ward
The accused (M) enters the courtroom during the security procedure against the knife man from Würzburg, who killed three women in June 2021. His lawyer Tilman Michler (2nd from right) is already in his seat
© Daniel Vogl / DPA
Plaintiffs and defense attorneys wanted to see the man in an institution. Your hopes have now been fulfilled. The district court of Würzburg has declared the approximately 30-year-old Somali to be innocent – and sentenced him accordingly.
The chief public prosecutor speaks of a bloodbath, the jury of the act of an incapable person: for the deadly knife attack on unsuspecting passers-by, the district court of Würzburg sends a mentally ill man to a psychiatric ward. “Anyone who acts without individual guilt should not be punished,” said the presiding judge, Thomas Schuster, on Tuesday when the verdict was announced. It is undisputed that the accused attacked people he did not know with a kitchen knife on June 25, 2021 in downtown Würzburg – while he was incapacitated. “He was unable to see the wrong of his actions.”
At that time, three women died and nine people were injured. The refugee from Somalia has been paranoid schizophrenic for years, according to two independent reports. He has psychoses, hallucinates and hears voices that are said to have ordered him to attack with a knife on the day of the crime. The court evaluates the crimes as three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and five counts of attempted manslaughter.
The verdict is not yet legally binding. After the end of the trial, the Munich public prosecutor’s office and the defense indicated that they did not want to appeal. (Az: 1 Ks 502 Js 278/21)
With the verdict under Section 63 of the Criminal Code (accommodation in a psychiatric hospital), the offender may spend many years in a psychiatric ward – “perhaps the sharpest sword of criminal law,” comments Schuster, because the accommodation can also mean lifelong. External experts will in future examine the convicted person at regular intervals. As long as the man’s illness persists and he is classified as dangerous, release is not possible.
Attack with the “biggest kitchen knife he could find”
The act on a summer afternoon still upsets many people in the university town. June 25, 2021, shortly after 5 p.m.: The barefoot perpetrator enters a department store on Barbarossaplatz. “He took one of the biggest kitchen knives he could find,” says the presiding judge. Suddenly the man stabs. After a few moments, three women aged 24, 49 and 82 are dead.
The migrant, around 30 years old, the authorities do not know his exact age, continues to attack people indiscriminately on the street. “It didn’t matter to him whether he had fatally injured her,” says Schuster. Four women, an eleven-year-old girl and a 16-year-old, were seriously injured. There are also three slightly injured. An attacked police officer remains unharmed. According to Schuster, the migrant felt persecuted by the security authorities at the time and wanted revenge for alleged suffering.
Courageous passers-by dissuaded the perpetrator from further victims until the police finally stopped him with a shot. “It was four minutes in which the accused caused a bloodbath,” summarizes senior public prosecutor Judith Henkel in her plea.
Speculations about motive
Shortly after the crime, there was much speculation about the motive: an act of terrorism, an Islamist attack, religious mania? Defender Tilman Michler speaks in his closing words of agitation and thoughtless statements, also on the part of politics. Tilman also turns to the victims again on behalf of his client and says that the accused sincerely apologize for the crime.
The Somali was first registered in Germany in 2015. Since then he has been noticed several times because of mental problems. According to their own statements, the authorities had no indication that the man could endanger other people up to the day of the crime.