STORY: On Tuesday, the district court of Kaiserslautern initiated the main proceedings against Andreas S., a 39-year-old man accused of murdering two police officers. The public prosecutor’s office accuses the alleged perpetrator of killing two police officers in the Kusel district on January 31 as part of a police traffic check out of greed and to cover up a criminal offence. The crime is the alleged cover-up of poaching. Another man, 33-year-old Florian V., is also charged, who, according to the district court, was involved in killing the game. Johannes Barrot, court spokesman for the Kaiserslautern district court, explains: “The public prosecutor’s office accuses the 39-year-old main defendant of two murders in connection with an attempted murder. This is said to have happened out of greed or with the intention of covering up, out of greed, because he wanted his prey, his wanted to secure hunting prey and to cover up the attempted killing to the detriment of the police candidate. In this context, the public prosecutor’s office accuses both defendants of a particularly serious case of hunting poaching. Particularly difficult because the accusation is collective, commercial and at night.” Christian Kessler, defense attorney for the second accused Florian V., emphasized before the trial began that there was no alternative course of action for his client. “My client had to witness that two young people were killed by the co-defendant without him being able to do anything about it. He was then himself threatened that if he didn’t cooperate further, he would be laid next to the two dead people. I think that’s why it’s asking a bit much to demand that he have to turn himself in. The public prosecutor’s office also assumes, essentially as a result of the investigations, that my client had no alternative course of action to what he did after the crimes.” After arresting the accused in January, police found a large number of dead wild animals in the back of the van at the scene. In addition, officials had found an arsenal of weapons during subsequent house searches. However, the focus is on the alleged murder of the young police officer and the police officer during the early morning routine check. The 24-year-old woman was still in training. She studied at the Rhineland-Palatinate Police University, did an internship at the Kusel police station and was about to complete her training. Her 29-year-old colleague was a police superintendent. Both came from Saarland. A total of 14 trial dates are scheduled until the beginning of September.