Devout Christian female sentenced in Berlin court for murdering daughter and mother
In a shocking turn of events, a 71-year-old man, the grandfather of the victim, was given a six-year prison sentence for accessory to manslaughter. The horrifying plan for a group suicide was initially conceived by the grandmother, who lived with this man in a toxic symbiosis, as per the court's findings.
The matriarch of the family, a 68-year-old woman, decided to take her own life, and her husband and daughter were part of this deadly pact. This family, as reported, was a member of a Free Church and led a starkly Bible-abiding and pietistic life.
The 42-year-old defendant's and her 11-year-old daughter's statements suggesting their desire to join in the suicide were dismissed as absurd by Presiding Judge Gregor Herb. Her daughter, influenced by the mother's fears of foreigners and acculturation, wanted to follow her and grandparents in death. Unfortunately, under the mother's manipulation, the young girl couldn't envision a life without her mother.
Judge Herb firmly stated, "An 11-year-old is not capable of making a binding decision to approve her own murder." The girl had penned a heartrending farewell letter to her friend, expressing her excitement to join them in heaven and shower them with cats and gifts every day. However, this message held no justifiable reasoning, according to the judge.
The fateful act unfolded on October 13, 2023. As per the plan, the defendant first inflicted deep cuts on her daughter's wrist in their apartment, and later assisted her mother who had attempted suicide and requested help. The court considered this as manslaughter at the behest of the victim.
Following the suicide attempt, the defendant herself tried to end her life, but her attempt failed. Heartbreakingly, her tactic to take her own life came too late. Her father also attempted suicide in his apartment, initially keeping it a secret until the following day. By then, his wife and granddaughter had already lost their lives, while the defendant remained critically injured.
The court imposed a harsher sentence than what was demanded by the prosecution. The prosecution had asked for a prison sentence of 4 years and 3 months for the woman, but the judge, taking into account the conscious act of inflicting harm on her child, handed down a sentence of six years.
The grandfather, too, faced a tougher sentence than expected. The prosecution had requested a 3-year prison term, but the court imposed a 6-year sentence on the 71-year-old for aiding in the granddaughter's murder. The defense team had argued for his acquittal.
