justice
Illerkirchberg murder trial – life imprisonment
Candles and flowers are at the crime scene in Illerkirchberg. photo
© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
Two girls are on their way to school when a man attacks them with a knife. A 14-year-old dies. This case shocked the republic. A good six months after the fact, there is a verdict.
In the case of the knife attack on two schoolgirls in Illerkirchberg, the accused was sentenced to life imprisonment. The district court of Ulm also determined the particular gravity of the guilt. As a rule, early release from prison after 15 years is almost impossible.
The 27-year-old Eritrean, who came to Germany as an asylum seeker, attacked two girls with a knife on their way to school in December. A 14-year-old died as a result of the attack, her 13-year-old friend was able to escape. The verdict was for murder and attempted murder with dangerous bodily harm.
The public prosecutor’s office, the private prosecutor and the defense had demanded a life sentence for the man, while the prosecutor and the private prosecutor had also demanded that the guilt be particularly serious.
Court: The perpetrator wanted to take revenge on the district office
According to the court, the 27-year-old man actually wanted to kill an employee of the district office. This was explained by the judge of the Ulm Regional Court in his reasoning.
The Eritrean, who came to Germany as an asylum seeker, planned to take revenge on the district office. He blamed the authorities for messing up his life because he could not travel to Africa to find a wife without a passport.
Assuming that the students had seen the knife, he spontaneously decided to kill them. He wanted to prevent the girlfriends from calling the police and thus thwarting his plan.
Court sees several elements of murder met
In the case, the court sees several elements of murder fulfilled. The chamber assumed the murder characteristic of malice and enabling another crime, said a court spokeswoman after the verdict.
The families of the two students had joined the proceedings as joint plaintiffs. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
No deportation at first
According to the public prosecutor, it is unclear whether the perpetrator from Illerkirchberg will be deported to his home country during his prison sentence. That still has to be seen in the course of the enforcement, first of all the judgment has to become final, said the public prosecutor at the Ulm district court.
“He basically serves the sentence here in Germany first,” she said. “Then there is the possibility that he will also be deported, but then refrain from further enforcement. But when that will be the case, after how many years, that remains to be seen.”