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Accused in Tenerife court (in January): family lured into a cave
Photo: Ramon De La Rocha / dpa
Almost three years after a family murder in a cave on the Spanish island of Tenerife, the father and husband from Saxony-Anhalt has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
The responsible judge in Santa Cruz de Tenerife imposed this sentence solely because of the killing of the accused's ten-year-old son at the time of the crime, the Canary Islands' judiciary announced.
The 46-year-old was also sentenced to 23 years for the murder of his wife in April 2019 and a further 16 years for the attempted murder of his then seven-year-old son.
The lawyers of the German had told the German Press Agency before the sentence was announced that they would definitely appeal.
The man who brutally attacked his family in a remote cave on the Atlantic island on April 23, 2019 was found guilty by a jury on February 4.
Man lured family into a cave
According to the indictment, the early pensioner, who lives on Tenerife, had led his wife, who lived separately from him in Halle in Saxony-Anhalt, and their two sons, who were ten and seven at the time, to a remote cave on a hike in the south of the island - under the pretext that he was there hidden gifts.
In the cave he killed the woman and the older son.
The seven-year-old was able to escape.
According to the prosecution and the jury, he escaped certain death.
The boy was the most important witness.
At the trial, the man's lawyers had tried - unsuccessfully - to prove that he was not of sound mind at the time of the crime.
The man said he only remembered bits and pieces of what happened.
At the time, he was taking medication for pain and depression, including morphine.
However, experts disagreed with the defense's claim that these drugs led to increased aggression.
The 46-year-old, who according to official information owns several properties in Germany, has to compensate his youngest son with 910,000 euros.
ptz/dpa