After Ines R. made her appearance in room eight of the Potsdam Regional Court, the probably most difficult part of this day of the trial came for the defendant. For half an hour, investigators, judges, prosecutors and experts looked through the photos of the bloody act that she is accused of. Ines R., 52, long blonde hair, blue-green blouse, has no choice but to sit silently next to it. Sometimes her gaze wanders to the bench to the right of her, from where the spectators stare at her. Most of the time, however, she looks forward motionless with her arms crossed. Even as a child, she repeatedly had the feeling that she was “not normal,” she said in the morning. The feeling that her classmates found her strange. “I then hid at home.”
The fact that the trial is about made headlines across Germany. On the evening of April 28, 2021, four people with disabilities, two women and two men, were killed with a knife and one woman was seriously injured in a care facility in Potsdam, the Thusnelda-von-Saldern-Haus. Ines R., who had been working as a nurse in the Oberlinhaus for more than 30 years – a diaconal institution to which the Thusnelda von Saldern House also belongs, was an urgent suspect from the start. “She was aware that the five victims were severely disabled people who were unable to defend themselves or to call for help,” said the public prosecutor at the start of the trial. Ines R. is charged with fourfold murder and attempted murder.
Traces of blood on clothing
There is little doubt that Ines R. is the perpetrator. On that evening she was responsible for the fatalities as a nurse, at home she revealed herself to her husband, the police found “suspicious blood attachments” on her clothes. Rather, the question of whether Ines R. is guilty or not is negotiated.
If you believe her information, her life can at least be described as difficult. In his calm and friendly manner, the presiding judge Theodor Horstkötter had asked the defendant to talk about himself. She could just talk or he could ask her questions: “I’ll put this in your hands.”
In front of Ines R. is a crumpled A4 sheet of paper, she talks about her childhood in Potsdam, about the fact that she was constantly ill; from the mother who just didn’t hit her when she was sick. Even as a five-year-old there was this “deep sadness and fear of life” in her, she constantly had nightmares and difficulties making friends. Her only caregiver was the mother, the father was unable to give her support, nor was the older sister. Nevertheless, Ines R says: “I didn’t like my mother.”
Medication, alcohol, depression
When she was nine, her parents separated, “when I was eleven, I wanted to die”. She made her first suicide attempt when she was 14 and the next when she was 18. In between, she was kept for a long time in a closed ward, where her sedative was injected. At the time, the mother was told that the drugs came from the Federal Republic of Germany, and that the GDR had actually tried drugs from Switzerland on children here. It has been proven that pharmaceutical companies from the West had their products tested in the GDR.
Medication, alcohol, depression and burnouts run through her life according to Ines R. To this day, she still takes strong pharmaceuticals, which she repeatedly dosed herself depending on the condition.
Judge Horstkötter finally asks her which of these experiences were the most formative, yes, the worst, for her. Ines R. answers the medication that has been injected to her, the disability of her first son. “And Olli’s brain tumor,” her second son. As Ines R. describes it, it is a life full of catastrophes, one of which is enough to cause a deep misfortune. The only bright spot was her work as a carer, 20 years with children and adolescents, eleven years with adults. “I couldn’t help myself”, but she helped others, says Ines R. Until recently, “this work was a lot of fun”. You have never harbored a “negative feeling” towards those in need of care.
Your lawyer complains about the working conditions in the Oberlinhaus
Your lawyer Henry Timm had announced before the start of the trial that they would also make the working conditions in the Oberlinhaus an issue. His client was “played to pieces” there, as several burnouts have shown. “I did everything for the clients,” says Ines R. about herself. The residents and employees of the Thusnelda-von-Saldern-Haus confirm that Ines R. was a good colleague and carer.
Forensics at work around the facility the day after the crime.
(Photo: Soeren Stache / Picture Alliance / dpa)
She reports that she regularly went well beyond her limits at work. Because according to her statements, the care stories on her ward on the third floor of the house have always been too short. “When there were three of us, it was okay,” reports Ines R. “Lately, however, there have often only been two of us.” Unlike in the past, the house management did not request any additional staff. “Weeks before I did it, none of them were fetched.” Unlike her colleagues, however, she did not submit any “overload reports”. Because what would have happened then, it was clear: you could look for a new job, it would have been said.
A report by the state home inspectorate speaks against this representation by Ines R. The Thusnelda von Saldern house had been checked the day before the act of violence. This also includes controlling the occupation of the shifts. The home supervisor had nothing to complain about.
Ines R. has been in the forensic department of psychiatry since her arrest. Nine further negotiation days are scheduled for the process.