Justice - Escaped prisoner: stalled communication during manhunt
Following the escape of a prisoner from Bruchsal during a guarded excursion to a quarry pond in Germersheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, details of the chain of communication between the authorities of the two federal states have become known. It had already become clear on Wednesday that the Europe-wide manhunt for the fugitive had been delayed.
At midday on October 30, the offender had managed to escape from the two accompanying prison staff during the so-called execution and to crack or cut his electronic anklet. A Mannheim offender who had also disappeared without a trace was freed by a helper with a weapon on Thursday last week after a doctor's appointment in Ludwigshafen (Rhineland-Palatinate).
According to the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Justice, the provisional search in the European Schengen area was triggered by the Baden-Württemberg State Office of Criminal Investigation at 1.50 p.m. on the day after the escape - i.e. around 24 hours later. This is according to the answer given by the Ministry of Justice in Stuttgart to a question from an FDP member of parliament, which was made available to the German Press Agency.
In the hours after the escape, the Rheinpfalz and Pforzheim police headquarters had, according to the Ministry, initially coordinated and agreed from around 6 p.m. which authority was responsible for the next steps.
Half an hour later, the Pforzheim public prosecutor's office was informed about the escape - but by e-mail to the general mailbox, which is only accessed during normal business hours, the answer to the question continues. This email was forwarded at 6.35 a.m. the morning after the escape by the employee responsible for the general mailbox.
According to the ministry, the Bruchsal prison was visited by the police in the afternoon of the same day "in order to be able to search there for clues to possible locations", as the answer states. The public search with photos of the wanted man was also published more than 24 hours after the escape.
Under certain conditions, prisoners such as the Bruchsal inmate are legally entitled to supervised excursions, known as executions. Among other things, they serve to accustom the prisoner to life in freedom again and to reunite the family.
According to the Ministry of Justice, this year there have been around 20,000 so-called "extractions and demonstrations", including medical and court appointments and - to a much lesser extent - legally prescribed "executions to maintain fitness to live".
According to the Ministry of Justice, the execution schedule agreed with the Bruchsal inmate and his wife on October 30 included a family meeting and breakfast together in a fast food restaurant in Germersheim, not far from the French border, followed by a trip to a supermarket and a DIY store. The small group then drove to the Sollachsee recreational area. The man managed to escape at the playground there.
According to the ministry, this was the eighth time since October 2019 that the prisoner, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder by the Karlsruhe Regional Court in 2012, had been executed. Earlier statements had repeatedly led to the family or their surroundings in Pforzheim. The prisoner had also visited Karlsruhe Zoo and Bretten Zoo, a large shopping center in Karlsruhe and most recently the city of Heidelberg.
Following the escape in Germersheim and the further escape of a prisoner from Mannheim after a doctor's appointment in Ludwigshafen (Rhineland-Palatinate), FDP MP Christian Jung from northern Baden is calling for escapes to only be permitted in the immediate vicinity of prisons in Baden-Württemberg.
"After the incidents, it makes sense to restrict executions to Baden-Württemberg territory where possible," he said on Thursday. There are excellent clinics and doctors in the catchment area of the Bruchsal and Mannheim prisons, as well as excursion destinations without crowds that could be secured. Among other things, this could prevent communication breakdowns.
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- The delay in the European-wide manhunt for the escaped prisoner in Germersheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, was attributed to communication issues between the authorities of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate.
- The manhunt for the Bruchsal prison escapee was initially coordinated and agreed upon between the Rheinpfalz and Pforzheim police headquarters.
- The Pforzheim public prosecutor's office was informed about the escape by email, which was only accessed during normal business hours, causing a delay in the response.
- The Ministry of Justice in Baden-Württemberg reported that the search for the escaped prisoner in the Schengen area was initiated around 24 hours after the escape.
- FDP MP Christian Jung from northern Baden is advocating for escapes to only be permitted in the immediate vicinity of prisons in Baden-Württemberg to prevent communication breakdowns.
- According to the Ministry of Justice, the penal system in Baden-Württemberg allows for supervised excursions, known as executions, during which prisoners such as the Bruchsal inmate had gone to Germersheim.
- Christian Jung also suggested that allowing executions in the catchment area of the Bruchsal and Mannheim prisons could provide easier access to medical facilities and less crowded excursion destinations.
- The escape from Bruchsal prison was the eighth time the life-sentenced murderer had been executed since 2019 and had led to earlier incidents involving his family and surroundings in Pforzheim.
- In Bruchsal, the police visited the prison to search for clues to possible locations for the escaped prisoner, and the public search for photos of the wanted man was not initiated until more than 24 hours after the escape.
Source: www.stern.de
