Crimes and Arson - A woman served twelve years in prison for murdering her own mother
A woman from Hannover received a twelve-year prison sentence for the murder of her own mother. The Hanover Regional Court convicted the 50-year-old woman additionally for serious arson and disturbing the peace of the dead. Due to her severe depression, the judges deemed the defendant legally impaired. The tenant woman had confessed to surprising and killing her 74-year-old mother in her sleep on December 29, 2023, and setting the shared apartment on fire on New Year's Day.
"I didn't want to kill my mother," said the woman. She had knocked her mother unconscious with a hammer, tied her up, and intended to interrogate her. Afterward, she wanted to kill herself. The 37 stab wounds on the victim were explained by the daughter as having occurred in a panic.
In her judgment, the presiding judge Britta Schlingmann described the act as a "tragic and very sad case." The defendant had felt rejected by her mother since childhood but couldn't escape her. In her notebook, the woman wrote about torture fantasies. "What do you do with a monster? You don't kill it, you punish it," quoted the judge.
According to the court's belief, the 50-year-old German woman made the decision to kill her mother only when she awoke and began to scream. "She was completely defenseless, she couldn't resist in that moment," said Schlingmann. Therefore, the murder was considered a heinous murder. The execution of the crime - hitting her mother on the head with a hammer and inflicting 37 stab wounds - was "really brutal," the judges determined.
The defendant was also sentenced for disturbing the peace of the dead. Since she had partially carried out the fantasies she had written in her notebook, the woman, who had lived with the dead mother for three more days, was, in the judge's opinion, in a "psychological exceptional situation." On the second-to-last trial day, the psychiatric expert had classified the woman as legally impaired.
The prosecution had demanded a prison sentence of 14.5 years. They assumed that the defendant did not want to kill herself in the fire. Instead, she had prepared all the rooms in the apartment except her own room with flammable materials. The defense, however, had only requested a sentence of six years and five months in prison.
The fire department was alerted to the burning apartment on New Year's Day and found the daughter in her room with a handkerchief over her mouth. The emergency services prevented the fire from spreading. At the time of the crime, there were eight residents in the apartment building.
"I agree with the verdict," said the defendant after the judge's statements. However, the judgment is not yet legally binding, as the prosecution can still file a revision.
- The woman's case was heard at the Higher Regional Court Hannover, presided over by Judge Britta Schlingmann.
- Ms. Schlingmann noted that the defendant had been suffering from depression, which influenced her impairment during the process (Court).
- The crime took place in the shared apartment in Lower Saxony, Germany, where the daughter and mother lived.
- The prosecution argued that the defendant's heinous crime involved hitting her mother in the head with a hammer and inflicting 37 stab wounds.
- Despite the severe punishment, Britta Schlingmann quoted, "You don't kill it, you punish it," suggesting the mother's influence on the daughter's criminality.
- After the verdict, Britta Schlingmann added, "She was completely defenseless in that moment," expressing sympathy toward the victim.
- The defendant had written about torture fantasies in her notebook, indicating a struggle with mental health issues before the crime and subsequent prison sentence.
