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The defendant at the start of the trial in August.
Photo: Karen Katzke / dpa
A 41-year-old was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of two women in Rendsburg.
The Kiel district court saw it as proven on Thursday that the man first murdered a 26-year-old woman from Geesthacht in August 2018 and a 40-year-old in September 2020.
In addition, the court determined the particular gravity of the guilt and ordered preventive detention.
This means that early release from prison after 15 years is legally possible, but practically impossible.
Corpse in the attic
According to the indictment, the man killed the victim "to satisfy the sexual instinct, out of greed and insidiously."
Both women worked as prostitutes.
They were mistreated, handcuffed, and killed with a plastic bag over their heads.
The body of the 26-year-old from Geesthacht was only found after the second murder due to a police breakdown - in the defendant's attic.
The second victim, the 40-year-old, was found dead in her apartment.
The investigators identified the 41-year-old as her last suitor.
The co-plaintiffs massively criticized the police officers' actions, saying that the second murder could possibly have been prevented.
Expert sees danger for the general public
The 41-year-old was silent in court.
He denied the deeds to an appraiser that he was not a murderer.
The psychiatric expert however considered him fully culpable and dangerous for the general public.
Follow-up acts threatened.
With its ruling, the jury followed the prosecution's and accessory prosecution's petitions.
These had also demanded the highest possible sentence for the accused.
The defense lawyer applied for temporary imprisonment - that would mean a maximum of 15 years and placement in a psychiatric ward.
He did not name a sentence.
jsp / dpa
