On the High Rhine - Family Violence: 19-year-old should remain in psychiatry
After the stabbing attack in Hohentengen am Hochrhein that resulted in three deaths, the suspected 19-year-old perpetrator, according to the prosecutor's office in Waldshut-Tiengen, is to remain in the psychiatric hospital and continue being treated at the request of the prosecutor.
"Based on an expert opinion, the prosecutor's office believes that the defendant was mentally incapable of wrongdoing at the time of the offense," the prosecutor's office stated.
His actions cannot be punished. However, it is to be expected that the man is dangerous. Therefore, the prosecutor's office is seeking a compulsory psychiatric treatment.
The man, who holds both German and Italian passports, is charged with three counts of manslaughter and one attempt of manslaughter. He is accused of attacking and killing his parents, aged 58 and 61, and his 34-year-old brother with a pocket knife at the end of March in a commune in the extreme south of Germany. His sister, the suspect's sister, sustained severe stab and cut wounds during the attack, but they were not life-threatening.
The exact motive for the crime is unclear according to the prosecutor's office. "The motive for the defendant's actions should have been rooted in his mental illness at the time of the offense," it was stated. There was a physical altercation in the family the day before the incident.
The Landgericht Waldshut-Tiengen must now decide whether to grant the requested compulsory psychiatric treatment.
- The stabbing attack in Hohentengen am High Rhine resulted in a case of Messerattack, with the perpetrator being sent to a psychiatric hospital in Baden-Württemberg.
- The Public Prosecutor's Office in Waldshut-Tiengen believes that the suspect's criminal actions were a result of mental incapability at the time of the Messerattack.
- Despite the dangerousness of the suspect, who is accused of killing his family members and attempting to do so to his brother, compulsory psychiatric treatment is being sought by the Public Prosecutor's Office.
- The brother of the suspect survived the Messerattack, but sustained severe injuries, highlighting the impact of the criminality in this case.
