Charges brought against alleged gas station killer
Created: 01/25/2022 11:39 am
Flowers, candles and messages to the victim lie at a downtown gas station.
© Thomas Frey/dpa/Archive
A good four months after the fatal shot at a petrol station employee in Idar-Oberstein, the public prosecutor charged the alleged perpetrator with murder.
The 49-year-old is said to have killed the 20-year-old employee in mid-September 2021 after he had repeatedly pointed out the corona-related mask requirement, said the chief public prosecutor Gerd Deutschler on Tuesday in Bad Kreuznach.
Bad Kreuznach – After the investigation, the 49-year-old wanted to buy beer at the gas station without a mask.
After a brief exchange of words at the checkout, the suspect pulled a revolver out of his pocket and shot the young man, who was working as a temp at the gas station, in the head.
He died instantly. The act triggered nationwide horror and sympathy.
The German, who was not previously known to the police, had confessed to the crime.
After his arrest, he said that he rejected the corona measures and that the pandemic had affected him.
According to the investigation, this statement is supported.
The man's "emphatic rejection of the measures taken to combat the corona pandemic" are "contributory to the commission of the crime".
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The prosecution said he probably "considered the dead person to be partly responsible for the overall situation" because he wanted to enforce the rules for covering the mouth and nose.
The freelance software developer from Idar-Oberstein is currently exercising his right to remain silent.
It is still unclear when the trial before the Bad Kreuznach district court will begin.
dpa
