Murder of doctor - Youngest defendant confessed to murdering doctor early on
With the examination of more witnesses, the trial against a doctor from the Eifel region who was murdered continues before the Trier Regional Court. On the eighth of the sixteen previously scheduled trial days, two cousins of the youngest defendant testified that he had confessed to them early on about the murder. "He said he was alone," said one of the two, a 20-year-old. They were not supposed to tell anyone.
He told them that he had hit the doctor on the head with a tool and then buried his body in the forest. Then he poured concrete mix over it. The motive was that they, his half-brother and their mother, felt threatened by the doctor.
Trio on the Defendant's Bench
All three sit on the defendant's bench after the violent death of the orthopedist from Gerolstein at the end of 2022: The 36-year-old fiancée of the victim, her 18-year-old son, and his 17-year-old half-brother.
According to the indictment, the trio allegedly killed the doctor "in accordance with a common plan" in his house in Gerolstein and buried the body in a wooded area. Motive was that the 53-year-old had been drinking excessively alcoholically for a long time - and it had led to verbal and physical assaults.
The young men are charged with murder from the hiding place. The charge against the woman is manslaughter, as she was present at the scene of the crime but did not participate. She has denied being present.
She stated that she had been upstairs in the room with the three small children at the time of the crime, whom she was with. The children are now in foster care. The defendant's lawyer, Walter Teusch, reported at the press conference on Tuesday that the children, aged seven, eight, and twelve, were recently interviewed by the police. "They know nothing and have seen nothing," he said.
The doctor, who was last seen at his workplace in the hospital in Daun at the end of 2022, had been missing for months. A year ago, a hiker discovered decomposed remains in the forest and reported it to the police. Currently, there are still eight further trial dates planned until August 21st.
- The crime took place in the Eifel region, specifically in Gerolstein, which is a part of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
- During the interrogation, the 18-year-old defendant confessed to his cousins that he was alone when he committed the murder in the forest.
- The mother of the defendant and his half-brother, both sitting on the defendant's bench, are also under investigation for their involvement in the doctor's murder in Gerolstein.
- The process of bringing the trio to justice involves multiple court appearances in Trier, with the latest trial day focusing on the testimonies of the defendant's cousins and the children in foster care.
- The girlfriend of the victim is charged with manslaughter for being present at the scene of the crime in the doctor's house in Gerolstein, despite her denial of being there.
