crime
Suspected cult leader jailed for life for murder
The alleged cult leader next to her defense attorney in the Frankfurt regional court. photo
© Helmut Fricke/dpa
A 76-year-old woman has to serve a life sentence. She is said to have murdered a four-year-old 35 years ago.
A suspected cult leader is because of Convicted of the murder of a little boy in Hanau 35 years ago. She will receive a life sentence, said the presiding judge on Wednesday when announcing the verdict in the Frankfurt regional court. Four-year-old Jan was the son of cult members and was murdered on August 17, 1988.
The authorities assumed for a long time that it was an accident, but an investigation was only carried out again in 2015. Five years later, the Hanau district court convicted the German of murder. However, the Federal Court of Justice overturned the judgment and referred the case to the regional court in Frankfurt for a new trial. A jury has been hearing cases against the now 76-year-old since last spring.