justice
Verdict awaited in dentist’s triple murder trial
A judicial officer removes the handcuffs of the accused (2nd from right) in the courtroom of the Kiel Regional Court. Photo: Marcus Brandt/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
A dentist from near Kiel is said to have shot his wife, her new friend and another man. Almost a year later, he is now facing the maximum sentence.
He stalked his ex-partner, according to witnesses she was scared to death. Then he killed not only her, but two other people. This Monday (April 4th), the Kiel jury wants to pronounce the verdict on a 48-year-old dentist.
He wrote to a friend from custody: “Having to live with this guilt of being a murderer is the worst punishment.” In the process he is accused of a triple murder – of his wife and two men. Now the father of four is threatened that he may not be released from prison.
Defense attorneys plead manslaughter
In their non-public pleadings, the public prosecutor’s office and the joint plaintiffs demanded the maximum penalty for three murders involving malicious intent and base motives: life imprisonment and a determination of the particular gravity of the guilt. If the court under the presiding judge Jörg Brommann follows the applications, an otherwise possible release on probation after 15 years in prison would be almost impossible, even with a good prognosis of the perpetrator.
Even the defense attorneys do not doubt that the 48-year-old German shot his wife, her new friend and another man. Your client also confessed that in the courtroom. But they plead manslaughter, assume unplanned acts and reduced criminal responsibility – in contrast to the accusers, the joint plaintiffs and the psychiatric expert. If convicted of manslaughter, the sentence would be served after 15 years.
In vain did the defense demand a second report and the rejection of the expert due to bias. But the Chamber has no doubts about his expertise. The psychiatric specialist attests full culpability and excludes affective acts. He refers to the fact that the three victims were killed at two crime scenes within just about half an hour. He also mentions that the man searches the internet for terms like “lifetime,” “murderer,” and “guilt.” Lawyers would have to evaluate whether this indicates planning for the crime.
48 shots from the submachine gun
This also applies to the classification of images from surveillance cameras in the accused’s practice. They show how the accused dentist from Westensee (Rendsburg-Eckernförde district) handled two weapons, magazines and silencers a few days before the crime.
The accused is said to have fired almost 50 shots from a submachine gun at his wife on the morning of May 19, 2021, as she was just greeting her new acquaintance in the entrance of a semi-detached house in idyllic Dänischenhagen (Rendsburg-Eckernförde district). The coroner registered 48 shots in her – the first ones are said to have been fatal. Many break through their bodies and meet new acquaintances who are ten years their senior. Both victims bled to death at the scene. The motive for the crime, according to the indictment: the dentist wants to punish the woman for the separation and the new partner for the relationship with her.
Handed over to the police in the evening
According to the indictment, the 48-year-old blames the third victim, a mutual acquaintance of the couple, for the breakdown of his marriage. Just half an hour later he shoots him five times in the face in Kiel. The 52-year-old also bled to death at the scene. The suspected triple murderer then turned himself in to the police in Hamburg in the evening. He has the semi-automatic murder weapon with him.
The defendant’s four underage children have lost their mother – and to a certain extent now also him as a father. The other two victims were also fathers. They also leave behind traumatized relatives.
According to the statements of many witnesses, the deeds were indicated. “It was in the air,” says a friend of the killed wife as a witness. Another reports: “She said he kills her.” Accordingly, the 43-year-old was afraid of death after she finally separated from him after his infidelities and a severe violent attack.
He ignores a violence protection order, stalks her, places a GPS transmitter on her car and spies on the later crime scene. Then the victims have no chance.