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Bernhard Günther: "Someone came from behind and pushed me, so I stumbled into the arms of the other who was coming from the front"
Photo: Oliver Berg / dpa
In the trial for the acid attack on Bernhard Günther, the top manager himself testified as a witness before the Wuppertal district court.
He suspects a certain person from his professional environment to be the client: "It's no coincidence if someone is mugged twice on Sunday morning in Haan while jogging."
He was attacked by two men six years before the acid attack in 2018.
At that time he suffered lacerations and a broken leg.
Both robberies also happened in times of professional change.
There is only one person who would have benefited from being disabled in both 2012 and 2018.
He made a list for both attacks.
"The intersection is exactly one person," emphasized Günther.
He didn't name a name.
The first attack took place in 2012, shortly before he took office as the new RWE board member.
The second attack followed Innogy's profit warning and the ouster of the then CEO.
A week later, the planned takeover of Innogy by E.ON was announced.
The 55-year-old was attacked and severely burned on March 4, 2018 near his home in Haan near Wuppertal.
The perpetrators had poured highly concentrated sulfuric acid over him.
The defendant denies the crime
After the first attack, he joined a running group for safety reasons.
Both perpetrators would have hidden in the bushes and watched him for exactly the 300 meters that he was traveling alone.
"One came from behind and pushed me, so I stumbled into the arms of the other who was coming from the front."
Günther said he was surprised at how professionally, even gently, he was brought to the ground and fixed.
"Somebody knew what he was doing," said Günther.
Then a torrent of acid hit him.
The accused in the trial is a 42-year-old Belgian whose DNA was found at the crime scene.
However, the man denies having anything to do with the crime.
He claimed gloves containing his DNA were stolen from him and then planted at the crime scene as a false lead.
He does not recognize the accused, said Günther, but unlike the second assassin, he did not see his face at the crime scene either.
On the other hand, he looked the other man straight in the face during the assassination and later recognized him in photos.
Günther: »For the transplantation of the eyelids, my eyes had to be sewn shut for a week«
The suspect, a hobby wrestler, was released due to insufficient evidence.
The investigations against him are now closed.
The assassination left numerous traces on his body, said Günther.
He had endured half a dozen operations and still has half a dozen operations ahead of him.
His eyelids and parts of his facial skin would have had to be transplanted.
"My eyes had to be sewn shut for a week for the eyelid transplant," he reported about his ordeal.
He rarely leaves his house without makeup.
The trial will resume on August 11th.
bbr/dpa