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Defendant Stephan Ernst between his defense lawyers Kaplan (left) and Hannig, who has since been released from liability: "Rechts Subkultur"
Photo: Boris Roessler / DPA
It is said that anyone who lies once is not believed.
In court this means that after a liar is exposed, at least his further statements are viewed with obvious skepticism and suspicion.
This is also the case with Stephan Ernst, who made three confessions: In version 1, he stated that he had killed the Kassel District President Walter Lübcke alone.
In version 2 he was allegedly an accomplice of Markus H., who shot the CDU politician.
And in version 3 he claims to have been at the scene with Markus H., but shot himself.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office considers Stephan Ernst, 46, to be the main culprit: the one who killed Walter Lübcke with a Rossi .38 caliber revolver on his terrace on the night of June 2, 2019.
She has accused Ernst of murder and his friend Markus H. of accessory to murder, because he is said to have incited Ernst.
The evidence so far does not prove that Markus H. was at the crime scene in Wolfhagen-Istha in Hesse.
Stephan Ernst was advised by a lawyer on each of his three submissions.
In order to find out which version of the crime is correct and which role Markus H. actually plays, an unusual procedure now occurs in the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main: The State Security Senate asks Mustafa Kaplan to appear on the witness stand - the Cologne lawyer is defending Ernst in the current proceedings and is subject to confidentiality .
Kaplan takes off his black robe and takes the stand in a white shirt with a white tie.
He describes how it came to confession number 2: On the fifth day of the trial, July 3rd, he received a WhatsApp message from the now exempt attorney Frank Hannig at 8:42 am with a photo of a note and the note: "We're leaving Ernst today what to say. I bring him this note, but he speaks free. "
"I made it up"
The piece of paper said that Ernst had received a call at the correctional facility from his wife, who had asked him why it was taking so long to confess.
"Just tell me what happened."
And Ernst should tell the court: "I can and will tell everything. I owe that to the Lübcke family. I have to think about it. Please understand that I need time."
Kaplan asked his colleague whether there had actually been such a phone call.
Hannig said no.
"I made it up," the lawyer is said to have said.
Just like he invented confession number 2.
Amazement in room 165. The chairman Thomas Sagebiel slides forward in his chair, leans on the bench: "Did Mr. Hannig tell you which elements are his invention?"
- "Yes," says Kaplan, "the invention is that Markus H. had the weapon in his hand and accidentally fired a shot."
- "Also that Mr. H. was at the scene?", Sagebiel inquires.
- "That wasn't an invention."
- "So, he didn't completely invent Mr. H. there?"
- "No not that."
That would mean: Lawyer Hannig knew version 3 (Stephan Ernst shoots Walter Lübcke in the presence of Markus H.) and constructed version 2 from it (both defendants at the crime scene, but Markus H. is the shooter).
But why?
Hannig wanted to provoke a statement from Markus H., who has been silent so far, says Kaplan.
Kaplan says he was surprised that Hannig "admitted the lie".
"You can lie in criminal proceedings," said Hannig.
"The defendant, yes, but not the lawyer," Kaplan replied.
In the end, Stephan Ernst did not read any of the note.
Kaplan says he prevented it.
The idea with the note, the invented culprit of Markus H. - that should have accelerated the fact that a few weeks later materialized: Hannig's dismissal as a defense attorney.
He will soon also be heard as a witness.
The first defense attorney received an anonymous call
On this day of the negotiations, the Senate asked Ernst's first defense lawyer how it came to confession number 1: Dirk Waldschmidt, 55, once one of the leading activists of the Hessian NPD and deputy state chairman.
A man who looks like his own caricature and who is one of the nationwide well-known scene lawyers.
Waldschmidt - small in stature, with glasses and a wide cross - earns his living mainly by trundling through the entire republic to defend right-wing extremists.
He appears in a plaid suit and in the presence of a lawyer.
Did he seriously advise a false confession?
Did he urge him not to incriminate Markus H.?
Did he seriously promise financial support for the family in return?
Stephan Ernst claims that Waldschmidt recommended confession number 1 to him: He should take all the blame and consciously leave Markus H. out.
In return, his family would be protected.
In a questioning on behalf of the Federal Prosecutor's Office, Waldschmidt said that he had never advised Ernst to confess.
On the contrary: he claims to have found out about it on the radio, even though he had visited him in the penal institution the day before the confession, which Ernst made without legal assistance.
"Right Subculture"
Ernst also claims that Waldschmidt taught him that he had messed with the wrong people: they will finish him off, let him "rot".
Ernst, whose DNA was secured on Walter Lübcke's shirt, has only one chance: to adhere to the code of honor - and to keep Markus H. out.
Then people with whom Waldschmidt is in contact would support him, take care of his family and the house that has not yet been paid off.
Waldschmidt also denies that.
In court the first question is who even commissioned Waldschmidt to defend Stephan Ernst.
Waldschmidt speaks of an anonymous call.
Then he applied for a so-called speech certificate for a preliminary talk, got into the car and drove 170 kilometers to the Kassel prison.
The Senate is interested in the caller.
Waldschmidt can only give one hint: "Nobody whom I would classify as part of the right-wing subculture would not fit the language."
Waldschmidt's remarks about going into the blue without knowledge of the files to a potential client who had officially assigned a public defender at the time make little sense.
Likewise, Stephan Ernst's statements, which he is said to have made to Waldschmidt: Ernst had protested his innocence, named an alibi witness and the constitutional or state security department suspected of having deliberately placed his DNA at the crime scene.
The murder of Walter Lübcke was also "about real estate deals with the Albanian mafia".
"I'm proud of my papa"
The Senate postponed Waldschmidt's questioning after an hour into November, until then Stephan Ernst's wife should also release him from the obligation to maintain confidentiality.
The day ends with the mobile phone video made by Markus H., which is played in the courtroom.
It shows Walter Lübcke on October 14, 2015 in the community center in Lohfelden near Kassel, when he informed about the initial reception facility for refugees in an empty hardware store.
The CDU politician speaks of a "great worldwide unrest" and a "globalized world" in which politically persecuted people seek refuge.
In the video you can hear Stephan Ernst calling: "Who is working on this? Who is paying for it?"
It is the event after which the right-wing extremist scene declared Walter Lübcke a "traitor".
His family sits in the courtroom and has to endure the father and husband briefly coming to life.
When the sergeant turned the light back on, Jan-Hendrik Lübcke pressed the button on his microphone and said in a touched voice: "I'm proud of my papa. And he is right about everything he said."
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