Alleged cult leader jailed for life for murder
An alleged cult leader has been sentenced for the murder of a young boy in Hanau 35 years ago. She will receive a life sentence, said the presiding judge on Wednesday at the sentencing in Frankfurt District Court. Four-year-old Jan was the son of cult members and was murdered on August 17, 1988.
For a long time, the authorities assumed it was an accident, and it was not until 2015 that the case was investigated again. Five years later, the Hanau district court convicted the German woman of murder. However, the Federal Court of Justice overturned the verdict and referred the case to the regional court in Frankfurt for a retrial. A jury chamber there has been trying the now 76-year-old since last spring.
The investigation into the cult's processes revealed potential involvement in other crimes. Despite the initial assumption of an accident, the jury in the retrial delivered a guilty verdict for the cult leader, upholding the life sentence for her role in Jan's murder.
Source: www.dpa.com
