- Trial for Fatal Family Dispute
Two brothers are standing trial at the Cologne Regional Court for joint manslaughter of their brother-in-law. The 40-year-old and the 54-year-old are accused of assaulting a distant brother-in-law in Leverkusen with fence posts in February of this year and subsequently fatally injuring him with a broken beer bottle and a knife, allegedly due to a family dispute.
According to the indictment, the later victim and the two defendants, who all originate from Syria, met at a bus stop. The meeting was supposed to address family disputes that had escalated from a marital dispute between one of the defendants' brothers and his wife, the victim's sister.
After an initially "loud verbal altercation" between the parties, the defendants allegedly broke "wooden slats from an adjacent fence" and attacked the victim with them. The "physically inferior" man also armed himself with a fence slat and fought back before fleeing to the pavilion of a nearby inn on the opposite side of the street. There, the defendants allegedly stabbed the injured man with a knife and a broken glass bottle. Only when passersby noticed the incident did the defendants flee, according to the public prosecutor.
The victim sustained at least 18 stab and cut wounds to the head, neck, and back and shoulder areas, from which he died about a week later in a hospital.
While the 54-year-old remained silent in court, the 40-year-old admitted to the crime in essence. The trial is scheduled to continue with ten more court days until early October.
The brothers under trial in Cologne Regional Court are from Syria, originating from the same family that was involved in a dispute with their sister's husband. Despite the incident taking place in Leverkusen, the family dispute at its core was between German and Syrian relatives.
