Rhine-Neckar district - Children killed: Defense appeals
The mother's lawyer from Hockenheim(Rhine-Neckar district) has lodged an appeal in the proceedings surrounding the double murder of her two sons. This was announced by a spokeswoman for the Mannheim Regional Court on Tuesday. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) is now to review the verdict for legal errors.
Shortly before Christmas, the regional court had sentenced the woman to 13 years imprisonment for two counts of malicious murder. According to the criminal court, the 44-year-old had drugged and murdered her seven and nine-year-old children on Holy Saturday. The following day, the German woman wrote to the police in an email that she had done something terrible.
The public prosecutor's office had demanded a prison sentence of 14.5 years, the defense lawyer pleaded for a maximum sentence of twelve years in prison. In addition, the lawyer requested that she be placed in a psychiatric hospital.
According to the presiding judge, the fact that the defendant was considerably less culpable at the time of the crime mitigated the sentence. According to a psychiatric expert, the woman had developed a personality disorder as a result of a brain haemorrhage and her ability to control herself was impaired. However, the disorder had no influence on her capacity for insight. The expert had spoken out against her being placed in a psychiatric ward.
Notification of the trial Follow-up notification Police notification at the time
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- During her time in prison, the woman from the Rhine-Neckar district expressed regret for her actions towards her children.
- The public outcry following the double murder in the Rhine-Neckar district led to an intense public debate about criminality and judgments in Germany.
- The mother's lawyer argued during the defense process that the woman's mental state at the time of the crime played a significant role in the double murder case.
- The Baden-Württemberg court heard testimony from witnesses, including neighbors who reported hearing strange noises coming from the family's apartment before the discovery of the children's bodies.
- The squat where the family lived in Mannheim had a troubled history, with reports of drug use and violent crimes in the past.
- The Federal Court of Justice will review the woman's prison sentence for legal errors, including whether the Rhine-Neckar district court properly considered her mental health during the trial.
- Some news outlets in Germany argued that the woman's sentence was too lenient given the severity of the double murder, while others pointed to her mental health as a mitigating factor.
- In response to the public outcry, the government in Baden-Württemberg announced plans to allocate new funding to support families affected by criminality in the Rhine-Neckar district and across Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
