crime
Life sentence for Apolda arsonist
The Erfurt regional court found it proven that one night in August last year the defendant set a fire in a residential building in Apolda where he knew that many people lived there. photo
© Jacob Schröter/dpa
The Erfurt regional court has sentenced a 36-year-old to life imprisonment. He is said to have started a fire in a residential building in which four people died.
A 36-year-old has been sentenced to life in the Erfurt regional court for, among other things, murder in four cases and attempted murder in 30 cases sentenced to imprisonment. The court also found that the guilt was particularly serious, which means that early release from prison after 15 years is almost impossible.
“It is a terrible event, which is why we are sitting here in court,” said the presiding judge in his verdict on Tuesday. The court found it proven that one night in August last year in Apolda, Thuringia, the defendant set a fire in a residential building where he knew that many people lived there, including children. Four people died and many were injured. The defendant admitted the crime, but denied that he wanted to kill anyone.
The court saw things differently in its reasoning: the man had treacherously started the fire while he was asleep at night and used petrol cans as a means of endangering the public. He also acted for base motives because he wanted to take revenge on a few residents of the house with whom he had argued over 250 euros. He planned the crime, announced it and acted carefully.
The court relied on the results of an expert opinion that the man was guilty at the time of the crime. According to another report that an expert presented at the beginning of the negotiations, the man would not be guilty because he was suffering from psychosis at the time of the crime. The Bulgarian was therefore placed in a psychiatric clinic. Now he will be taken into custody.
The public prosecutor’s office had previously called for a life sentence, but overall, they did not see the particular gravity of the guilt. The defense attorney for the accused Bulgarian pleaded before the regional court on Tuesday to acquit his client and place him in a psychiatric facility. The verdict is not yet legally binding.