Accused Lover Found Guilty of Manslaughter Following Decade-Long Legal Process
A decade ago, a 28-year-old woman vanished in Hamburg. It wasn't until January of the previous year that a fisherman came across her remains in a Wilhelmsburg canal. The woman's ex-lover soon became the prime suspect and was recently sentenced to nearly twelve years in prison for manslaughter.
The Hamburg Regional Court handed down a sentence of eleven years and nine months to a 43-year-old man for the manslaughter of his former lover. Over seven months of this sentence have already been served due to delays in the proceedings, as confirmed by a court spokesperson. According to the ruling, the woman disappeared in March 2013 and was unaccounted for until last January, when her remains were found in the Wilhelmsburg district where she used to reside, in a canal.
The precise time of her demise remains uncertain, but the court presumes that the man killed the Bulgarian woman following her disappearance over a decade ago.
Personal conflicts between the two individuals served as the probable motive for the crime, as per the court's findings. The woman was reportedly involved with the then-brothel operator and demanded financial support for her upkeep. If he refused, she threatened to expose their relationship and his illicit activities to his family. The court's decision was less than the prosecution's desired sentence of twelve years and nine months but more severe than the defense's plea for acquittal.
Body Parts Discovered by Fisherman
Following the woman's disappearance, investigators suspected foul play and marked her ex-lover as the prime suspect. He was even detained and charged in 2014, but the Hamburg Regional Court declined to reopen the case due to the absence of the body at the time.
The woman's remains were eventually found by a fisherman in the same canal in mid-January 2023. Police divers subsequently retrieved most of the body. After the identity of the body was confirmed, the accused was re-arrested several weeks later on suspicion of involvement in the crime.
The Hamburg Regional Court initially declined to reopen the case due to the absence of the woman's body, but this changed when her remains were discovered in the Wilhelmsburg canal in January 2023. The Commission, working closely with local authorities, aided in the investigation and eventual re-arrest of the suspect.
