Deed in the Spessart - Wife killed - 40-year-old man convicted of manslaughter
A man from Hanau District Court has sentenced a man to nine years in prison for manslaughter due to a kitchen knife and a stone that he used to kill his wife. The judges considered it proven that the 40-year-old man killed his wife in June 2023.
The defendant admitted to the crime before the jury and stated that he had wanted to take his own life afterwards. Jealousy was reportedly the motive. The man could no longer endure the alleged affair of his wife with a neighbor and was desperate, according to the court.
The defendant, who is from Afghanistan, is said to have entered the bedroom with a 16 cm long kitchen knife and wanted to kill himself demonstratively, according to the judges. However, the woman took the knife from him first.
Children were sleeping in an adjacent room
The 40-year-old man stated that his wife had insulted and humiliated him. Then he grabbed a stone and attacked his eight-years younger wife in a fit of rage.
The victim was severely injured according to the court's assessment through numerous stab wounds to the chest and back as well as blows to the head, and died at the scene.
The three children of the couple, aged between 8 and 13, were sleeping in an adjacent room. The 40-year-old man was still at the scene when the police arrested him. He did not resist.
Not yet legally binding judgment
The prosecution, who initially assumed that the 40-year-old man had attacked his wife in her sleep and acted out of base motives, later withdrew this accusation but still saw an attack on the defenseless woman and demanded a life sentence for murder.
The two defense attorneys, however, pleaded for a sentence of imprisonment under seven years for manslaughter in a less serious case. The judgment is not yet legally binding.
The man's nine-year imprisonment is currently under the process of the Hanau District Court's judgments. The defendant, a refugee, had initially sought imprisonment due to his actions, as he was consumed by jealousy over his wife's alleged affair with a neighbor.
The woman's children, aged between 8 and 13, were sleeping in a nearby refugee accommodation during the unfortunate incident. The 40-year-old man's actions led to manslaughter, resulting in numerous stab wounds and blows to his wife, causing her demise in the Spessart region.
Despite the prosecution's initial call for a life sentence based on the attack, the court arrived at a more lenient sentencing of nine years, considering it a less severe case of manslaughter. The legally binding judgment in this case is yet to be announced.
