processes
Police murders: investigator on interrogation after the fact
Flowers and candles at the scene where two police officers were shot dead during a traffic check near Kusel at the end of January 2022. Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
A young policewoman and her colleague were killed during a night traffic check. What exactly happened?
In the murder trial of two police officers killed near Kusel (Palatinate), according to an investigator, in an interrogation after the crime at the end of January, the co-defendant made the main accused responsible for all gunshots.
The co-accused testified that his accomplice during the nightly vehicle inspection said “What, hunting poaching?” The policewoman was “taken down by the force”.
The 39-year-old main defendant also shot the policewoman’s colleague. The co-defendant said during the interrogation on February 18 that he heard two shots and heard a cry of pain. After the shots, the main defendant ordered him to look for his lost documents and threatened that he would “put him next to it otherwise”.
While the co-defendant nodded several times when the officer described his statements, the main defendant listened with folded hands or took notes. When the judge said in a description that the main defendant took it very seriously, the 39-year-old flared up. ‘Mr Chairman, you say I’m quite specific. What is this about? It’s not about two chewing gums.”
Prosecutors accuse the main defendant of murdering a 24-year-old police officer and a 29-year-old police commissioner five months ago to cover up poaching.
Investigators assume there was an exchange of fire between the police officer and the main suspect. The police commissioner is said to have shot his service pistol empty – without hitting the attacker.
The act of violence caused nationwide horror. The prosecution accuses the co-defendant of attempted frustration. He is said to have helped cover up the tracks, but not shot.