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Murder trial in Hanau: What the accused mother of the dead four

2021-11-08T19:25:39.273Z


A four-year-old boy died more than 33 years ago in a former pastor's home. His mother, accused of murder, is now speaking for the first time in court - and does not want to be considered "freezing cold".


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Defendant Claudia H. in court (undercover): "Maybe I expected too much."

Photo: Arne Dedert / picture alliance / dpa

Claudia H. seems out of place.

Upright, tense, her upper body turned towards the bench, she sits between her defense lawyers in room 215 in the Hanau district court.

Her son Jan died on the afternoon of August 17, 1988 in the house of a pastor friend, choking on vomit gruel, that was the official cause of death at the time.

He was four years old.

External fault was ruled out for more than 25 years, until in September 2020 the Hanau jury chamber sentenced the pastor's wife to life imprisonment for murdering the boy.

The child's mysterious death seemed cleared up.

But then Claudia H. was arrested two days later and remained in custody.

The Hanau public prosecutor also charged her with murder: Claudia H. is said to have "stuffed" her four-year-old son with gruel, then put it in a linen sack, tied the sack upside down and left the house.

Jan remained in the care of the pastor's wife Sylvia D., who saw the child as "the reincarnation of Hitler" and had intentionally suffocated.

Her husband is with her

Claudia H. defends herself against the allegations that she is responsible for the cruel death of her son.

She is 60 years old, a biologist, PhD.

Her husband, Jan's father, is in the audience.

He stands by his wife.

Sylvia D's defense attorney is also in the auditorium;

He has appealed against the judgment, a decision of the Federal Court of Justice is still pending.

Room 215 is about Claudia H's life that summer of 1988, about a strikingly distant relationship with her own child and about her role in a religious self-help group that existed for decades and seems to have been more important to her than her own family.

Claudia H. stayed with her husband and son in the house of the former pastor, the founder of the sect-like association, and shared everyday life there with them and other members.

It sounds like a home that Claudia H. clung to because she absolutely wanted to belong - and it wasn't one for her son.

"He was pushed from one room to the next," stated the presiding judge, Susanne Wetzel.

"Or am I wrong there?"

more on the subject

  • Murder trial against the mother of four-year-old Jan H .: He screamed in despair, was beside himself «Julia Jüttner reports from Hanau

  • Indictment in the murder case Jan H., inferior settlement of an adult with a defenseless child «By Julia Jüttner

  • After the judgment in the Hanau murder case: Jan's mother arrested by Julia Jüttner

  • Judgment against alleged sect leader: "They are pitiless and consider themselves godlike" Julia Jüttner reports from Hanau

  • Horror world of a former pastor's family: Why did little Jan have to die? By Julia Jüttner

It sounds like a disturbing coexistence in which Sylvia D. had the say, especially in the upbringing of all the children in the household: those she had given birth to or adopted - and little Jan, too, who tried to rebel against it. He didn't speak to Sylvia D., he refused to follow her rules. His mother describes him in court as "defiant and stubborn", as "negative" and "grumpy". That made her "sad," she said, also because Sylvia D. had tried so hard.

"Maybe he was afraid of her?" Asks Judge Wetzel.

Claudia H. hesitates, "yes maybe".

She expected that to change.

All she could remember, however, was “snapshots” and the fact that Sylvia D. was “more indulgent” with Jan than with her own children.

However, anyone who has followed the trial against Sylvia D. knows that it was by no means like that.

"Maybe I was expecting too much"

Claudia H. describes the ritual of putting the four-year-old in a burlap sack while taking a nap.

She speaks of the "sleeping bag" in which Jan's "poor little arm" was also put because he was "squishy and restless".

"I didn't see any danger there," she says.

The sack was tied around the neck or under the arms.

The public prosecutor, however, speaks of a sack that was tied over his head so that Jan could not breathe in it. On that August 17th, 1988 Jan must have passed out, vomited and finally suffocated. Was his death the sad end to a short life of torture and abuse? That is also what this process is about.

Claudia H. finds it difficult to find clear answers to the court's questions.

Only in pre-trial detention does she claim to have thought about the exact living conditions in the community.

She wrote down an explanation on 17 pages.

She saw the trial of Sylvia D. as a "campaign of revenge" and did not believe the allegations against her, also because Sylvia D. denied them to her.

Judge Wetzel is surprised that Claudia H. was satisfied with it.

"Covering the murderess"

Claudia H. tries to put things into perspective.

Maybe she talked too much with her son, questioned too much, assuming too much, and ultimately overwhelmed him.

"Perhaps I was expecting too much," says Claudia H. In her admission, she writes that she was described as "freezing cold", "covering the murderess."

Wrongly.

She is still suffering from the death of her son, who would be 40 years old today.

At the end of the day of the trial, your defense attorney Thomas Scherzberg cannot resist a remark that the court has long since passed its judgment.

Judge Wetzel defends herself.

In no way can she make an assessment now of how the proceedings will turn out.

Everything seems possible.

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2021-11-08

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