justice
Illerkirchberg knife attack: life imprisonment demanded
The accused is led into the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles. photo
© Felix Kästle/dpa
The knife attack from Illerkirchberg caused nationwide horror. A student had to die, her friend was able to escape. The accused could face a long prison sentence.
A 27-year-old Eritrean who came to Germany as an asylum seeker is accused. He is said to have attacked the two girls, aged 13 and 14, on their way to school with a knife in December. The 13-year-old was able to escape, her 14-year-old friend died in hospital from her injuries.
The accused left his house with a knife
On this fourth day of the hearing, the accused provided information about himself for the first time. At the age of twelve he fled from Eritrea to Ethiopia, where he lived for several years. He came to Italy and finally to Germany via Sudan and Libya. In addition, his defense attorney stated that he had no objection to deportation. His defense attorney said he informed the regional council that he would leave the country as soon as possible.
In the last word, the accused said that he himself was shocked by the crime and offered his condolences to the family. He regrets and wants to apologize.
Giving the killed girl a voice
The two co-plaintiffs joined the public prosecutor’s office in their pleas in tears. The case brought her to her limits, said the co-plaintiff for the 13-year-old’s family. In her plea she wanted to give the girl a voice. The 13-year-old told her that she didn’t understand how one person could hurt another or take their life. The girl said that no one deserved to lose someone so precious or to die like that.
After the evidence was taken, the public prosecutor assumed that the accused had left his house with a knife on the day of the crime. With the knife he wanted to go to the immigration office of the Alb-Donau-Kreis district office to force a passport. He needed it to travel to Ethiopia, where he wanted to find a wife. The prosecution assumes that the man wanted to stab the responsible employee at the district office.
Just as the accused had left his house with the knife, the two girls walked past it, according to prosecutors. The man assumed that the students had seen the knife. He also believed that handling a knife on the street in Germany was a criminal offense. Because of this and so that the girlfriends don’t thwart his plan to force the passport, he spontaneously decided to kill the girls.
From the point of view of the public prosecutor’s office, the accused met three criteria for murder. So he acted insidiously and to enable another crime. He is also said to have tried to cover up a crime. Because he assumed it was a criminal offense to walk around with a knife. It doesn’t matter that this isn’t actually a crime.
The defendant’s defense attorney stated that, in her view, the guilt was not particularly serious. Likewise, the murder feature of the intent to cover up. Her client’s aim was not to use the stitches to hide the fact that he had a knife with him. She agreed with the allegation that the man had acted insidiously and to enable another crime.