Three women attacked - Prosecution demands life imprisonment for murder of 17-year-old girl
A 17-year-old girl wanted to go for one more round on her inline skates in the early evening of September 10, 2023, but she never made it back home: The public prosecutor in Barenburg (Landkreis Diepholz) has demanded life imprisonment for the accused in the trial of the fatal stabbing of a schoolgirl. Prosecutor Annette Marquardt also requested that the aggravating circumstances of the crime be established and preventive detention be ordered.
With this, an early release after 15 years in prison would be difficult. Only so could future dangers, which she "absolutely expects" from him, be prevented, she said. The public prosecutor accuses the 43-year-old German defendant of first killing the teenager with several stab wounds.
Three victims in four days
Three days later, the defendant is accused of seriously injuring a 30-year-old woman with a knife in Sulingen (Landkreis Diepholz). Shortly thereafter, he is said to have deliberately driven into an 18-year-old jogger in the Hannover region and also seriously injured her. Both survivors are said to be suffering physically and psychologically from the attacks today. All three women were accidental victims whom the defendant selected at random out of spite and base motives, said the prosecutor.
The defendant showed "massive criminal energy" during the commission of the crimes. None of his victims had expected an attack. The two injured victims are still suffering physically and psychologically today. The motive remains unclear even at the end of the trial. Marquardt said the defendant had "destroyed human life out of frustration." Emotionally, he was "completely numb." The 43-year-old showed no reaction during the closing arguments.
Defense also calls for life sentence
The defense followed the prosecutor's arguments in part during their closing arguments. Attorney Daniela Post saw the killing of the 17-year-old as a murder out of spite. However, she could not identify a murder motive in the other two cases.
The stabbing of the 30-year-old woman on a parking lot in front of a Fast-Food restaurant was assessed as an attempted murder, the running down of the jogger on a rural road as reckless bodily harm. She pleaded for life imprisonment - she denied the aggravating circumstances of the crime.
The co-plaintiff's attorneys tried to move the defendant to speak about the motive emotionally during their closing arguments. One of the attorneys tore up the multiple-page written statement of the defendant during his closing argument. "She is worthless," he said. There were no answers to the why in it. The defendant, a master farmer, had stated during the trial that he felt overwhelmed by work on his parents' farm. He could only dimly remember the acts themselves.
The verdict will be pronounced on the coming Monday.
- The case of the fatal stabbing of a schoolgirl is currently being heard at the Verden Regional Court in Lower Saxony.
- The public prosecutor's office in Barenburg, a district within Diepholz, is demanding life imprisonment for the accused.
- The accused, a 43-year-old German man, is also facing charges for injuring a 30-year-old woman with a knife in Sulingen and deliberately running into an 18-year-old jogger in Hannover.
- These women were all accidental victims, chosen at random due to the defendant's spite and base motives, according to the public prosecutor.
- The defense, represented by Attorney Daniela Post, agrees that the 17-year-old's murder was out of spite, but cannot identify a motive in the other two cases.
- The defendant, who is a master farmer, testified during the trial that he felt overwhelmed by work on his parents' farm and could only vaguely recall the acts themselves.
