crime
Life imprisonment for murder order in biker milieu
A former rocker of the “Hells Angels” was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Cologne Regional Court. Photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa/Symbol image
On Whit Saturday 2023, a man was shot from behind on the street in Düsseldorf by two men. The person who ordered the crime has now been sentenced to life imprisonment for incitement to murder.
The Cologne Regional Court has sentenced a 27-year-old former Hells Angels rocker to life imprisonment for incitement to murder. The court found it proven that the father of two children had ordered the murder of another former member of the Hells Angels. The man was also convicted of two violations of the weapons law.
The murder was carried out by two former “Hells Angels” rockers who are still on the run, the verdict stated. On Whit Saturday, the duo ambushed the victim and his partner in front of a fitness studio in the Cologne district of Mülheim, had a brief friendly chat with the couple and then shot the 35-year-old in the back and head from behind at close range. The presiding judge called the crime a “public execution”.
The victim died at the scene. The victim’s partner, who was also critically injured by a shot to the neck, was able to escape to a nearby beer garden. After receiving first aid from a waiter and then undergoing emergency surgery in a hospital, her life was saved. In her testimony in court, the woman identified the two fugitives as the main perpetrators.
Defendant denies the crime
The Turk accused of incitement to murder had vehemently denied the crime. The court found his statement to be “entirely authentic” but also “not very plausible”. The defendant was unable to adequately explain the numerous telephone contacts he had with the two main perpetrators prior to the crime. The court cited the statement of the girlfriend of one of the main perpetrators as further evidence of incitement to murder. The woman credibly stated that her boyfriend had spoken of an assignment from the defendant, after which both of them would have had a “nice life in Turkey”.
The court was unable to determine a motive for the crime. However, there were disagreements among the former bikers about a possible new formation of a “Hells Angels” group in Cologne.
The judgment is not final. An appeal can be lodged with the Federal Court of Justice.