process - Verdict: 13 years imprisonment for nurse after murder of colleague
A 21-year-old nurse, who killed a female colleague at a party in October 2023 with a kitchen knife, must serve 13 years in prison according to a ruling by the Bielefeld District Court for murder. The court did not comply with the prosecution's demand. The prosecution had called for a life sentence for the adult offender in their closing arguments. However, the court went significantly beyond the defense's request. The defense lawyer had called for an eight-year prison sentence for the juvenile offender under juvenile justice law due to premeditated murder. A psychiatric expert testified during the trial that the defendant had developmental deficits and a lack of emotional maturity.
The defendant confessed at the beginning of the trial in a non-public session that he had stabbed his colleague multiple times with a kitchen knife at a private gathering of paramedics in Bielefeld. According to the investigation, the German defendant had repeatedly harassed the 21-year-old nurse at the party, and she had finally rejected him loudly.
Upcoming schedule: Monday
The 21-year-old nurse's case was handled by the Public Prosecutor's Office in North Rhine-Westphalia, where the incident occurred. The initial hearing for the murder case was held in Bielefeld. Despite the Public Prosecutor's Office requesting a life sentence for the nurse's premeditated murder, the court in Bielefeld ruled that the nurse must serve 13 years in prison, citing the nurse's developmental deficits and lack of emotional maturity as mitigating factors in the judgments.
