He wanted her to finally leave his apartment. As quickly as possible. Finally Klaus R. (Name changed) Olena K., who fled to Germany from the war in her homeland, Ukraine, at the end of March 2022, only wants to provide temporary shelter in his apartment in Dachau. For a few days, a maximum of a few weeks, as stated in the indictment by the public prosecutor at the Munich II Regional Court. But Olena K. stayed. Almost a whole year passed – then tragedy struck.
During an argument on the evening of February 5th last year, which was said to have been about Olena K. having to vacate Klaus R.’s apartment, the 52-year-old allegedly gave him a kitchen knife with a blade approximately 16 centimeters long several times in the upper body. Klaus R. collapsed in the kitchen of his apartment. The injuries he sustained were so severe that he died shortly afterwards.
The public prosecutor’s office has brought charges of manslaughter against Olena K. Or was it murder – murder for base motives? The chairman of the jury chamber, Judge Thomas Bott, pointed out on Thursday at the start of the trial that the 52-year-old could also be convicted for this.
Olena K. is small, petite, her face is flushed, her medium-long hair is unkempt. After taking a seat in the dock, she surveys those present. When public prosecutor Theodor Bezold read out the charges, she kept shaking her head. Sometimes she smiles slightly and says, after the accusation has been read out, that it paints a “false picture” of her. The 52-year-old is reluctant to provide any information about herself. Olena K reports that she has been taking antidepressants since she was in custody. She goes to a psychiatrist in the women’s prison twice a week.
Olena K., who studied economics, seems unfocused. She talks loud and fast. Your thoughts are erratic. She reports her fear of “Russians” who took away her cell phone, on which all of her private addresses were stored. And she talks about things that Judge Bott didn’t ask her about. The chairman is annoyed. After almost three hours of questioning, he says to her: “You tell us trivialities in great detail.”
Olena K. and Klaus R. met long before the outbreak of war in Ukraine – in 2008 via an online dating portal. The two entered into a relationship, but in 2013 Klaus R. is said to have distanced himself from her. Afterwards, both are said to have maintained a kind of friendly relationship. When she visited Germany, she stayed overnight with him.
When Olena K. finally fled the war in Ukraine, Klaus R. took her in. According to the prosecution, the 52-year-old is said to have “behaved as the mistress of the house” shortly afterwards. She behaved “dominately and aggressively” and “terrorized” Klaus R. She is said to have even physically attacked him.
When Klaus R. entered into a new relationship in August 2022, he was even more interested in Olena K. finally moving out. But she stayed. This is said to have affected Klaus R. to such an extent that he was mentally damaged. Out of “fear,” as the indictment says, he stopped going to his apartment and slept either with his adult children or with his divorced wife.
Finally, Klaus R. asked his ex-wife to have a “woman-to-woman” conversation with Olena K. – on the evening of February 5, 2023. She should get Olena K. to leave the apartment. But an argument broke out. Klaus R’s son, who had also come, intervened. Olena K. attacked him and squeezed his cheeks tightly with one hand. She then attacked Klaus R’s ex-wife’s new husband. Finally, Olena K. grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Klaus R..
She herself said at the start of the trial that she was just “waving it around” and couldn’t remember stabbing anyone. The process continues.