crime
22-year-old sentenced to life imprisonment for murder
The defendant (m.) is led into the courtroom by judicial employees. photo
© Oliver Berg/dpa
The court is convinced: The man is said to have first drugged his grandfather and then set his apartment on fire.
The Cologne regional court has convicted a 22-year-old man Sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his grandfather. On Friday, the judges saw it as proven that the defendant from Gummersbach had drugged his grandfather with a sleeping pill in July 2022 and then set a fire in the senior’s living room.
The grandson did make another rescue attempt and pulled the 83-year-old out of the burning house into the open air. However, the old man died a day later in a hospital as a result of smoke inhalation. The court found the defendant guilty of murder in conjunction with aggravated arson resulting in death. The 22-year-old remained silent about the allegations during the trial.
Judge speaks of “rescue show”
The court viewed the rescue attempt as the actual motive for the crime. “One can speak of a rescue show,” said the presiding judge in the reasons for the verdict. The defendant’s goal was to appear as a hero. That’s why he waited to attempt rescue until he heard the fire department approaching with a siren. “The defendant waited so long because he wanted an audience,” the judge said.
The 5th Grand Criminal Chamber identified insidiousness as a characteristic of the murder. The defendant mixed ten tablets of the sleeping pill Zopiclone into his grandfather’s coffee and gave it to his unsuspecting and defenseless victim to drink. He took advantage of the 83-year-old’s sleepy state to be able to start the fire on a television chair unnoticed.
The court spoke of the defendant as a “two-faced perpetrator.” On the one hand, he is “helpful and friendly.” “However, there is also a dark side that led to gambling with the grandfather’s life,” said the judge. The verdict is not yet legally binding. The defense announced that it would appeal.