Processes
«Murder never expires» – defendant convicted
The accused in court. Photo: Markus Scholz / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The deeds were almost 30 years ago. Two women were molested and killed in the 1990s. Only now is a 69-year-old on trial for this – and will probably never be released again.
In the trial for the murder of two women in the 1990s, the 69-year-old defendant was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment and subsequent preventive detention.
“Murder never expires,” said the presiding judge Jessica Koerner on Tuesday in front of the Hamburg district court. It seldom happens that offenses can be solved after such a long time.
This is thanks to Soko “Cold Cases”, which reassessed the two cases and enabled the court to clarify them after all. The court assumed that the German abused, strangled and robbed the two women, aged 28 and 79, in their apartments in Hamburg.
The investigators had noticed parallels to the 69-year-old’s previous acts. The defendant knew both victims and had come into the investigators’ field of vision earlier. In 2011 he had been sentenced by the Lübeck Regional Court to a prison term of nine years with subsequent preventive detention for attempted murder in unity with dangerous bodily harm – the victim was his own niece.
What exactly happened on June 12, 1993 in the apartment of the 28-year-old victim could not be clarified in detail, said the judge. However, it is proven that the defendant visited the young woman, undressed and performed sexual acts on her. He then strangled her with a terry towel and stole a handbag. The exact motive is unclear, the man probably wanted to cover up the act.
The defendant assaulted the 79-year-old victim on April 19, 1999, sexually abused him and suffocated him with a plastic bag in the bedroom. He then stole gold jewelry and a blue handbag. Here, too, he killed the woman in order to turn her off as a witness.
At the beginning of the trial, the defendant had denied all charges. He had known both women, but had nothing to do with their murder, the man informed his defense attorney.
On Tuesday he took the opportunity to say one last word: “I’ve done a lot of crap in my life. I am very much to blame. I could have done something with my life too, “said the 69-year-old in a fragile voice. “But I’m not a murderer. I didn’t kill the two women. “
The public prosecutor’s office had previously demanded a prison sentence of twelve years and six months for both acts. “Without a doubt, one must establish that the accused is the perpetrator,” said the prosecutor. Everything else is just speculation that cannot be followed seriously.
The prosecutor admitted that there was only “static evidence”. However, the previous life of the accused, who was convicted of sexual offenses in 1993, must also be taken into account.
The defense had demanded an acquittal for the defendant. “It’s not enough for a conviction,” said his defense lawyer. There is only evidence, but no evidence. Therefore the presumption of innocence applies to the defendant.