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Accused Mario N. with his defense attorney Alexander Klein
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THOMAS FREY / AFP
It was Mario N. who had to clean up.
Who had to clean up the traces of a family tragedy: his father had shot his mother in the head.
She survived badly injured.
The father then killed himself.
Back in March 2020, he should have sought help, says Mario N. today.
Someone to talk to about what happened.
He only did it in prison after he had taken up arms himself.
On September 18 last year, Mario N. shot Alexander W. at a gas station in Idar-Oberstein. The cashier had asked him to follow the regulations and wear a mask because of the corona pandemic.
Since then, Mario N. has been in custody in Rohrbach Prison.
»Particularly despicable«
He will have to stay there for the time being.
The first major criminal chamber of the Bad Kreuznach district court sentenced the 50-year-old to life imprisonment on Tuesday.
The judges evaluate the deadly shot as murder: Mario N. committed the act insidiously and for base motives.
Alexander W. was unsuspecting and defenseless, according to the chamber he did not expect a fatal attack and had no opportunity to defend himself, says spokesman Daniel Wahn.
Mario N. queued up in front of the checkout, waited and only provoked when it was his turn by taking off his mask.
The 20-year-old is more or less an accidental victim.
»It wasn't about Alex W.«, says Wahn.
If another employee at the gas station had asked N. to put on a mask, said Wahn, N. would have shot as well.
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According to the court, the act was based on a political motive.
According to this, Mario N. became radicalized from 2015, and the pandemic measures would have intensified this.
From Mario N.'s point of view, the state has exceeded the limits with the mask requirement.
However, since he could not get hold of those responsible, such as the then Chancellor Angela Merkel or the then Minister of Health Jens Spahn, he killed Alexander W. on his behalf.
The chamber rated this as "particularly reprehensible and despicable," says Wahn.
"Relieved"
Mario N. had turned himself in and admitted the act.
He was angry, felt provoked and wanted to take a stand against corona policy, he said himself. Surveillance cameras had documented the act.
The jury did not impose the particular severity of the guilt, as the public prosecutor's office and the joint prosecutor had demanded.
Mario N. had no criminal record, had turned himself in and confessed to the crime, the judges justified their decision.
In addition, N. apologized to the cashier's mother and showed remorse.
Mario N. is "relieved" about this decision, says his defense attorney Alexander Klein.
Nevertheless, he wants to check with his colleague Axel Küster whether they can appeal the verdict.
The fact that the chamber did not impose the particular severity of the guilt is a partial success, says Küster.
Now the murder characteristics would have to be checked after the written reasons for the judgment were available.
Both lawyers had pleaded manslaughter with significantly reduced criminal responsibility.
In their view, neither the treacherous nor the base motives trait of murder applies.
Therefore, they had submitted several requests for evidence to prove this.
"In the end he doesn't know why he took that step."
Institutional Psychologist via Mario N.
In her view, the pandemic has affected N. economically as a self-employed software developer, but also mentally: He earned less, was only able to look after his mother in need of care to a limited extent because of the protective measures and had problems with the mask requirement because of his asthma.
N. was in a mental crisis, also drank more than ten half-liter cans of beer that day and had around two per thousand alcohol in his blood, says Klein.
The court, on the other hand, sees no significant restriction in the ability to control - neither through alcohol nor through an adjustment disorder.
The beer consumption would not have led to failures, but N. had behaved "very systematically", according to court spokesman Wahn.
Mario N. was able to weigh up and control his impulses at all times.
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Chief Public Prosecutor Nicole Frohn
Photo: Thomas Frey / dpa
Chief Public Prosecutor Nicole Frohn was satisfied with the verdict.
It is important that the court judged the crime to be murder and not manslaughter.
The determination of a particular degree of guilt is a question of balancing.
She also wants to examine a possible revision.
If the particular gravity of the guilt is determined, release after 15 years in prison is almost impossible.
In court, Mario N. said he was ashamed and deeply regretted.
In his last word, after the pleadings of his defense attorneys, he emphasized how sorry he was for the crime.
N. described to the prison psychologist how much the father's act, his suicide and the consequences had thrown him off track.
This moment was a "sticking point" for N., the psychologist said in the process.
From then on, N. "went into the corona situation", he considered the measures "completely pointless and unnecessary".
more on the subject
Trial of deadly gas station attack in Idar-Oberstein: what chats reveal about the shooter Julia Jüttner reports from Bad Kreuznach
Gas station murder trial: "I can't forgive you"
Confession after a fatal gas station attack: “I was worn down by the corona measures” Julia Jüttner reports from Bad Kreuznach
N. himself was shocked by what he was capable of: killing someone.
"He can't understand it," says the psychologist.
"In the end he doesn't know why he took this step." N. feels "great feelings of guilt" and is only now aware that the act also has drastic consequences for his life.
He suffers from "acute suicidal tendencies".
N. could not imagine a “longer period of deprivation of liberty” in which he would also have to live “monotonously and restrictedly”.
The judgment now gives his client a perspective after 15 years, says attorney Klein.
However, he himself, Klein, was also confident after N. had survived the first difficult months in prison.
In January, however, N. then tried to kill himself in prison.
With material from dpa