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Courthouse in Munich
Photo: Maria Maar / Westend61 / IMAGO
It is a spectacular decision: More than ten years after the verdict, the so-called bathtub murder is brought before the court again – because it may not have been murder at all.
The Munich I Regional Court declared the defendant Manfred Genditzki's application for retrial to be justified, the Munich Higher Regional Court announced.
The main process must be carried out again.
The court also ordered the accused released from prison.
Genditzki was sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2012 for murder and willful bodily harm.
It was the second verdict in the case, as he had already been found guilty in spring 2010 after months of negotiations.
However, due to a procedural error, the Federal Court of Justice overturned the judgment and referred the case back to the Munich district court.
But that was also evident in the second instance of Genditzki's guilt.
The background was the death of an 87-year-old in October 2008 in Rottach-Egern.
The court was convinced that Genditzki had drowned the elderly woman in a bathtub to cover up the fact that he had injured her in an argument.
The public prosecutor had previously accused him of wanting to cover up a theft.
However, this could not be confirmed.
The former caretaker and close confidant of the woman had always denied the crime.
The district court justifies its decision that the case is now, many years later, before the court again with new expert reports, which "in connection with the evidence collected earlier are suitable to lead to a more favorable decision for the accused".
The new findings are only possible due to the technical developments of the past few years.
According to the report, this is on the one hand a thermodynamic report, with which a new approximate definition of the time of death was possible.
This is outside the time window that the court assumed at the time.
On the other hand, a computer-assisted biomechanical simulation of what happened had shown that a "fall" was also possible.
Genditzki's defense attorney had previously argued in court that the seniroin's death was due to an unfortunate fall rather than a crime.
It is not yet clear when the new main hearing will take place.
The court did not issue a new arrest warrant against Genditzki because it currently sees no urgent suspicion.
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