Spending nine years in a juvenile correctional facility due to a homicide, while being homeless.
During the spring of 2022, a 17-year-old took the life of a homeless individual in Neuss, resulting in a nine-year sentence in a juvenile detention facility. However, due to a matter of uncertainty, the German Federal Court of Justice decided to reopen the case. After reassessing the evidence, the court reached the same conclusion and upheld the initial verdict issued by the Düsseldorf District Court.
Close to three years following the brutal stabbing of a homeless man within a tent in Neuss, a 19-year-old was found guilty by the Düsseldorf District Court for the murder. The judges adhered to the same ruling as those of the first trial, with the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) having previously overturned their initial verdict. The trial was held behind closed doors, protected by youth privacy.
At the time of the crime, the perpetrator was 17. They had fatally stabbed the homeless man twice through the tent flap, an act that was never contested. However, the initial trial in Düsseldorf could not definitively determine which of the two stabs had caused the fatal injury, leading the BGH to ponder whether there had been an intent to kill.
Case revisited
Consequently, a new trial by a different panel of judges was warranted to reconsider the case. Once again, their verdict aligned with that of their predecessors: Anyone who stabs like that, does so intentionally. The defense had argued for a conviction of causing death due to bodily harm.
The culprit was apprehended six months post-crime. It was alleged that they sought drugs from the homeless man, who was lying within his tent near a freight yard in Neuss. When the 31-year-old admitted he had no drugs, the perpetrator responded with lethal force. The two youths then fled, leaving the homeless man to bleed to death. His body was later discovered by a passerby.
Initially, the defendant had pointed the finger at another young man, resulting in the false imprisonment of this individual for several weeks. By implicating the other person, the perpetrator ultimately ended up incriminating themselves, having provided crucial information in their police statement that ultimately led to their own conviction.
The initial trial could not definitively determine the fatal stab's origin, leading the Federal Court of Justice to question the intent to kill. Despite the defense arguing for a conviction of causing death due to bodily harm, the new panel of judges concluded that anyone who stabs with such force does so intentionally, reaffirming the perpetrator's guilty verdict.
