In the trial of the killed hitchhiker Sophia L., the prosecutor's office has pleaded for a life sentence of the accused truck driver for murder and dangerous bodily injury. The lawyer of the parents joined the claim before the district court of Bayreuth. He also pointed to a particular severity of guilt.
The defender of the 42-year-old Moroccan said: "The defendant has been guilty." He was in favor of a multiple year sentence for manslaughter.
Sophia L. had wanted to hitchhike from Leipzig to Nuremberg over a year ago. From there, according to her brother, she wanted to travel by suburban train to her family in Amberg, Upper Palatinate. There, the 28-year-old never arrived.
According to the prosecution, the truck driver killed the hitchhiker to cover up a sexual crime. Her body was discovered in a ditch in Spain. (Read here which allegations the brother of Sophia L. makes against the police.)
In the proceedings, the exact course of the events and the motive of the accused were controversial: The prosecution argued that he could not stand their rejection and therefore seriously injured them with a wheel nut wrench. To cover up the injuries, he killed her on the evening of departure.
But just the time of death remained open: While the parents and the brother believe in a later date, Sophia L. died from the defender's point of view already at the first blows.
The accused had begun the trial by taking the young woman with her in June of last year and killing her with an iron pipe. However, he denied a sexual offense. He claimed to have accidentally killed her the evening of departure in the dispute.
The autopsy at the time of death of the student only "rough estimates," said a lawyer during the process. He assumed that Sophia L. died a few hours after departure or one day later. After his assessment, L. became unconscious after the first blows, died and was then only tied up. (Read here: The two versions on the death of Sophia L. - what the defendant said exactly to the deed.)
