Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Triple killer sentenced to life in prison
The accused in the triple murder trial in Rostock has been sentenced to life imprisonment. photo
© Frank Hormann/dpa
The crime causes a nationwide sensation: a son brutally kills his father, mother and sister. He remains silent in court. Now the verdict has been pronounced.
The Rostock district court has sentenced a 27-year-old man to life imprisonment who murdered his father, mother and sister with a crossbow and a garden machete in Rövershagen last year.
On Monday, the chamber also determined the particular severity of the guilt, which means that early release after 15 years is almost impossible. The accused acted “with the utmost brutality and cold-heartedness,” said Judge Peter Goebels.
The German shot his completely unsuspecting victims in February last year in their parents’ house in Rövershagen (Rostock district) with arrows in the head at different times. Since the victims were not killed instantly, he stabbed them with a garden machete with a nine-inch blade. He initially stored the bodies in the house for three weeks and later buried them with an excavator on a lonely edge of a field.
The 27-year-old had been silent since the first day of the trial on November 15, but had previously admitted the crimes in police interrogations. At the time, he gave the police “hatred of everyone” as the motive. According to the prosecutor, he insidiously and brutally wiped out his next of kin, acting “ice cold” and without empathy.
The defense attorney had called for an acquittal in her plea. From her point of view, none of the evidence, statements and expert opinions should have been used, since her client was not or not sufficiently informed about his rights during the police interrogation. Several family members of the victims were also present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. Many of them followed all 16 days of the trial and in some cases testified as witnesses.