In the trial surrounding the death of a wife from 36 stab wounds, the Bielefeld public prosecutor’s office on Thursday demanded twelve years in prison for manslaughter. The public prosecutor described the act of the 51-year-old accused in her plea before the Bielefeld district court as classic femicide and overkill. The man confessed to the crime on the first day of the trial.
The prosecutor moved away from the accusation of murder, as formulated in the indictment. Neither the murder characteristic of malice nor that of base motive could be determined. In their opinion, the taking of evidence revealed that the accused was offended by his 49-year-old wife’s affair. Mainly because she was dating a man who was known to be a rioter in the couple’s housing development.
At the time of the crime, the accused had 2.7 per thousand alcohol in the blood. Together with the alcohol-related disinhibition, a murder cannot be assumed, said the prosecutor. Despite the high blood alcohol level, the 51-year-old is not less guilty. He was quite able to control himself, as the course of the crime shows as an example.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the man had first fatally injured his wife with a knife, disposed of this knife and then got a new one. He rammed this into the heart of the woman lying on the ground at the end of the attack, as the prosecutor said. She spoke of overkill. She also denied that the accused was placed in a rehabilitation center. There is no further danger on the part of the accused.
In his pleading, the defense counsel essentially shared the prosecutor’s assessment of the evidence. However, he interpreted the overkill differently. Together with the high blood alcohol content, this speaks for a less serious case. He pleaded for manslaughter for eight years and nine months imprisonment. He also saw the requirement for the accused to be placed in a rehabilitation center.
The 51-year-old fought back tears in his last word. He regrets what he did and knows that he has deeply hurt his sons and in-laws. But he hopes that they will be able to forgive him at some point. I will accept any verdict from this court, he said at the end of the trial day. The court wants to announce the verdict on March 14th.
