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The words “Criminal Justice Building” are carved in stone above the entrance to the Hamburg Regional Court.
© Markus Scholz/dpa
Three men are said to have secretly mixed methadone into a 39-year-old's drink and then stole from him.
The victim died of an overdose.
For this they now have to go to prison for life.
Hamburg - The proceedings have “obvious abysses” - not only in relation to the defendants, but also in relation to the witnesses who testified for the defendants “out of misunderstood solidarity”: the presiding judge found clear words for the trial on Tuesday, which has been heard at the Hamburg Regional Court since the end of December and which has now ended with a harsh verdict: the three defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment for common murder and robbery resulting in death.
They are said to have secretly administered methadone to a 39-year-old man out of greed in order to rob him.
The court considered it proven that the three defendants, aged 41, 38 and 26, initially drank alcohol and consumed cocaine together with the 39-year-old in the evening of April 13, 2023 in the apartment of one of the defendants.
Without his knowledge, they are said to have mixed methadone into his drink.
He died of an overdose.
Methadone is a man-made opioid that is used to replace heroin or to treat severe pain.
After the crime, the defendants - a Serb, a Syrian and a German - stole his wristwatch and an unspecified amount of cash and later also stole items from his apartment.
The public prosecutor's office had demanded a life sentence for all three defendants.
The defense argued for acquittal.
The 39-year-old victim had a “friendly and open nature” and worked in geriatric care, the presiding judge said in her verdict.
However, the man was also unstable and needed someone to protect him.
In his quest for recognition, he boasted that he supposedly had assets worth around 100,000 euros.
Once or twice a month he went on a bar crawl and then consumed alcohol and cocaine.
He often visited a bar in Hamburg-Steilshoop, which is known for the fact that drugs are traded and consumed in the basement.
The three defendants also frequented the place, drank alcohol and used drugs.
The 26-year-old took part in a methadone replacement program but did not complete it.
None of them had any work, the judge said.
On April 13, 2023, the 39-year-old met the defendants on his pub crawl, to whom he had no ties, but who had heard about the alleged assets of 100,000 euros.
Together the three came up with a plan to take advantage of the unstable 39-year-old.
First, they were able to persuade the 39-year-old to transfer money to them from his account.
However, when that no longer worked, they decided to drug him with methadone and then rob him.
“It was clear to them that administering methadone could lead to death,” said the judge.
The three defendants “accepted this with approval”.
Their plan was to make administering the methadone look like an overdose, which they almost succeeded in doing.
When police officers found the 39-year-old's body on the morning of April 15, they initially assumed he had overdosed.
Murder investigations were only started after witness statements that spoke of outside influence.
The defendant's statements were not plausible or conclusive.
“They were just untrue protective claims,” said the judge.
This is where the defendant’s “audacity, unscrupulousness and greed” were revealed.
Overall, the evidence was clear and proved that the defendants were guilty.
Two witnesses also reported that the defendants had told third parties about their crime.
The court believed them - in contrast to the witnesses who testified for the defendants “out of misunderstood solidarity”.
dpa