- Guest stabbed at wedding party: defendant silenced
About seven months after a fatal stabbing at a wedding party, a 30-year-old man is standing trial at the Berlin Regional Court. He is accused of stabbing a 29-year-old man, who was also a guest at the party in a local establishment in the Kreuzberg district, believing him to be his wife's lover. In the days leading up to the incident, the 30-year-old is alleged to have attacked his wife over the supposed affair and forced her to file a false complaint against the victim.
The prosecution is charging the 30-year-old with manslaughter, dangerous bodily harm, and coercion. The two defense lawyers stated that their client is currently not commenting on the charges. They claim that they do not have all the evidence yet and have questions and doubts.
Feeling dishonored by the alleged affair?
The accused and the 29-year-old - two Eritrean nationals who had known each other for years - met at a wedding party on December 29th of last year. Throughout the evening, the 30-year-old repeatedly asked his countryman to talk in private outside the door, supposedly because he felt dishonored by the possible affair, according to the indictment.
When the 29-year-old refused, the accused allegedly threw a glass at him first. When a then 25-year-old tried to intervene, the 30-year-old pulled out a knife, injuring the 25-year-old in the thigh, and then stabbed his opponent in the left chest "in a fit of rage" with the intent to kill, according to the prosecution. The stab wound hit the 29-year-old's heart, and he died shortly afterwards in a hospital.
Strangled and beaten wife
The accused - a father of three who has been living in Germany since late 2017 and working as a cleaner - is alleged to have strangled and beaten his wife with a vacuum cleaner hose in their shared apartment in Berlin-Kreuzberg about two weeks before the fatal argument. The then 27-year-old raised her right arm to protect herself and suffered painful bruises, according to the indictment. He also allegedly threatened her and demanded that she file a false complaint against the 29-year-old for supposed rape.
The 30-year-old was arrested shortly after the fatal stabbing and has been in custody since. He had already spent several months in pre-trial detention in an earlier case in 2022. During this time, the 29-year-old is said to have offered help to the wife of his countryman. The trial will continue on August 13th.
Women were present at the wedding party where the fatal stabbing occurred.The accused's alleged actions towards his wife, such as strangleing and beating her, are not acceptable behavior towards any woman.
