A couple accused of a double murder in Swabia does not want to comment on the allegations. At the beginning of the trial at the Memmingen regional court on Tuesday, the defense lawyers said that the accused would remain silent.
The couple is accused of having killed the 38-year-old defendant’s father, who lives in Altenstadt near Ulm, and his partner out of greed. A third defendant is accused of aiding and abetting. The 32-year-old from Baden-Württemberg wants to comment during the proceedings.
The 38-year-old and his 33-year-old wife are said to have killed the father’s partner, a 55-year-old, with 44 knife stabs. Then they are said to have suffocated the 70-year-old. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the two victims were at home in bed on the night of the crime and did not expect an attack. Afterwards, the two defendants are said to have tried to disguise the act as a so-called extended suicide. The police should believe that the pensioner killed his partner and himself. But the police doubted this early on.
According to the prosecutor, the motive is greed. The couple from Altenstadt wanted to prevent their father from reversing the donation of a house. The defendants are also said to have speculated on the father’s inheritance and also on parts of his partner’s inheritance.
The third defendant, a friend of the couple from Albstadt, is accused of aiding and abetting. The man is said to have given the two alleged perpetrators a false alibi days before the crime by inviting them to a chat portal. On the night of the crime, he is said to have made his car available to them and looked after the couple’s two-year-old child. The software developer is also said to have deactivated a wildlife camera that could have recorded the couple’s journey to the crime scene.
The public prosecutor’s office also assumes greed was the motive for the third defendant. According to the indictment, the man expected an “unspecified gift” from the couple for their help. According to the court, 29 trial days are planned for the proceedings. 50 witnesses and twelve experts have been invited. There could be a verdict in May.