Explanation and DNA evidence in the jewel theft process

Created: 07/19/2022Updated: 07/19/2022 17:59

The district court of Dresden.

© Robert Michael/ZB/dpa

Since the end of January, there has been a lawsuit against the alleged jewel thieves in the Green Vault Dresden.

Another accused breaks his silence - and witnesses report other actions by two suspects.

Dresden – Two of the six young men accused of stealing jewels from the Green Vault Dresden in November 2019 have previously left their DNA in raids in Erlangen (Bavaria) and Berlin.

The trail of a 25-year-old was found during the investigation into a break-in at a specialist hydraulic company in Erlangen in mid-December 2018, as investigators reported on Tuesday in the trial at the Dresden Regional Court.

Seven high-tech devices, used hydraulic spreaders and shears were stolen from the showroom there.

According to Berlin officials, the DNA of one of the two 23-year-old accused twins was secured at a bank branch in Wedding in early November 2019.

And his brother then surprisingly explained that he had nothing to do with the burglary in the Green Vault.

He got out after a police check the night before the crime in Berlin.

"I wanted to go home," he said, and said he walked around town and then fell asleep.

He only read about the burglary on his cell phone the next morning, but later boasted that he was there.

He claims to have been in Dresden for the first time at his judge's demonstration.

In connection with the burglary in Erlangen, an expert considers it unlikely that the trace of the 23-year-old found at the scene of the crime got there indirectly, as claimed by the defense.

It was his DNA and not a secondary transmission, the assessor said.

The young man had been sentenced for the burglary, the sentence was overturned in the course of an appeal - with a view to the process of stealing the gold coin from the Bode Museum Berlin in 2017. He is currently still serving the youth sentence imposed on him.

According to Berlin investigators, three weeks before the spectacular coup in Dresden, about three perpetrators opened a window grille on the back of the bank building in Wedding and smashed the pane to get into the rooms.

Since the two bank employees fled, they did not get any money.

The grid is said to have been severed and prepared beforehand, as was done later in Dresden.

Prosecutors are convinced that the 23-year-old was one of the perpetrators.

"We are considering filing additional charges against him," said senior public prosecutor Matthias Almang on the sidelines of the hearing.

Then the young man would also have to answer for this in the current process.

A total of six young men between the ages of 23 and 28 have been charged with aggravated gang theft, arson and particularly aggravated arson.

You come from a well-known Arab family in Berlin.

In the early morning of November 25, 2019, they are said to have stolen 21 pieces of jewelery with a total of 4,300 diamonds and brilliants with a total value of over 113 million euros from the Dresden Museum and left behind damage of over one million euros.

They are also said to have set fire to an electricity box in the old town and one of their getaway cars in an underground car park.

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"I have nothing to do with any of this," the other 23-year-old said in court.

After the police check on the evening of November 24, 2019 in Berlin, he went home and met friends.

"I was at the judge's demonstration in Dresden for the first time." He also talked about his childhood that he was lazy at school, always had false friends, committed crimes and was also in prison.

A patrol stopped the car in which four young men were sitting, took their personal details and discovered burglary tools in the trunk.

A 28-year-old inmate and co-defendant had his defense attorney explain in March that he was involved in the preparation of the coup in Dresden, but left the project after the police check.

The trial will continue on Friday.

dpa