neighborhood dispute escalates - Life sentence for triple murder in the staircase demanded
In the case of the shooting of three people in a multi-family house in Swabia, the public prosecutor has demanded life imprisonment for the accused gunman. Prosecutor Thomas Junggeburth requested before the Augsburg Regional Court a conviction for triple murder and attempted murder. According to his belief, the 65-year-old defendant intended to end a long-term neighborhood dispute once and for all with his "icy approach."
In contrast to the prosecutor, the defense lawyer saw that his client was less culpable due to a psychological illness at the time of the crime. He was therefore to be sentenced to a prison term between 3 and 15 years, said defense attorney Walter Rubach.
A reduced culpability was not recognized by Junggeburth. In the trial, experts presented contradictory opinions on this matter. The prosecutor requested that the court in its judgment also establish the aggravating circumstances of the offense. In this case, the release of the German citizen after 15 years in prison would be significantly impeded. The judgment is to be announced on the coming Friday.
Years of dispute over trash and other trivial matters
The defendant and his neighbors had quarreled loudly about trivialities such as trash cans in the house in Langweid, and insulted each other. The trigger for the murder was reportedly a dispute about these matters, and the neighbor called the police. When the defendant learned of this, he is said to have planned the murder of his neighbors. He allegedly waited for the 49 and 52-year-old victims in the stairwell and shot them in the head.
Just a few seconds later, he is said to have shot a 72-year-old neighbor through her apartment door with a shot to the head. According to the prosecutor's office, the perpetrator had speculated that the elderly woman was looking through her peephole due to the previous shots and had shot accordingly. Then, the defendant is said to have driven to relatives of the slain pensioners and seriously injured them with shots through a door.
Teenage son lost both parents through the crime
The attorneys of the victim families joined the prosecution's indictment as co-plaintiffs. They accused the defendant of generating sympathy for himself as a victim and not apologizing. The defense attorney of the family of the murdered couple read a letter from the son of the victims, who as a teenager had lost his parents through the crime: "You took Mama and Papa from me," wrote the young man to the defendant. He would never be able to spend time with them again. He hoped that the defendant would be "locked away forever," thought the teenager.
The gunman, a 65-year-old resident of Mord in Bavaria, was involved in a long-term neighborhood dispute with his Swabian neighbors in Augsburg. This dispute often escalated over trivial matters such as garbage disposal. The Public Prosecutor's Office in Augsburg is leading the process against the defendant, demanding life imprisonment for the triple murder and attempted murder. Defense attorney Walter Rubach, however, argues for a reduced sentence, citing his client's psychological condition at the time of the crime.
