Icon: enlarge
Christoph Lübcke: son of the killed Kassel District President Walter Lübcke
Photo: Thomas Lohnes / dpa
In the trial of the Walter Lübcke case, the eldest son of the CDU politician spoke to the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court about an encounter in 2018.
At that time, he and his father may have seen the alleged perpetrators Stefan Ernst and Markus H.
A week earlier, Stephan Ernst, who was accused of the murder of the Kassel District President, described in court that he had seen Lübcke standing in front of a house with a "neighbor" in front of a house during a visit with Markus H., who was accused of aiding and abetting.
After describing the building, the question arose whether it could be the home of the older Lübcke son.
Christoph Lübcke now said he had stood in front of his house with his father and talked about his planned master's thesis.
He saw two men who had looked at him and his father.
Walter Lübcke then asked what that was.
"We felt stared at."
Ernst visited Lübckes several times
Christoph Lübcke couldn't remember Ernst himself when describing the encounter.
Above all, he noticed a smaller person who, with her grin and beard, reminded him of a Guy Fawkes mask, he said.
However, this man had fuller features.
The description could well be reminiscent of Markus H., who often grinned in the courtroom.
H. himself has not yet commented on the allegations.
Ernst had stated that he had driven several times to Lübcke's home Wolfhagen-Istha, both alone and with H.
H. was also with him on the night of the crime in June 2019.
Christoph Lübcke described that, like his brother, he initially assumed a heart attack or some other health emergency when his father was found lifeless on the terrace.
In the hospital, he also talked to his brother about the blood behind his father's chair.
"We still had the hope that he would come back to life."
"That tears your heart apart"
The death of the father is an "infinitely great loss for us all," said Christoph Lübcke.
This also applies to Walter Lübcke's grandson.
"You can tell at Christmas time." He explained to his little son that a bad man had hurt his grandpa and that he was now in heaven.
"That tears your heart apart," said Lübcke.
"The older he gets, the more questions come up."
In the morning, a firearms expert testified.
It was not about the murder itself, but about the successful dismantling of a submachine gun called a decoration weapon that was in the possession of Markus H.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office accuses H. of violating the Weapons Act as a further charge.
The expert, an official of the State Criminal Police Office (LKA), was able to dismantle the weapon in less than six hours and fire fully automatic shots with it.
Markus H. is said to have influenced Ernst politically.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office assumes a right-wing extremist motive for the act.
Lübcke had been exposed to threats and hatred since 2015 because of his work for refugees.
Icon: The mirror
bbr / dpa
