As of: March 6, 2024, 3:45 p.m
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Before the trial begins, the defendant (r) sits with his lawyer Daniela Post (M) and lawyer René Lancker in the Verden town hall.
© Sina Schuldt/dpa
The defendant is said to have stopped a 17-year-old on inline skates and fatally injured her with a knife.
He is then said to have attacked two women - with the intent to kill.
Now he is on trial.
Barenburg/Verden - Out of murder or base motives, he is said to have killed a 17-year-old who was doing a lap on inline skates.
The defendant is also said to have tried to kill two women, as the prosecutor said at the start of the trial in the Verden regional court on Wednesday.
The prosecution accuses the 43-year-old of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
According to the public prosecutor, treachery played a role in all of the crimes.
For reasons of space, the hearing with many spectators and several co-plaintiffs did not start in the rooms of the regional court, but in the Verden town hall.
According to the prosecution's investigation, the defendant lived on a farm at the time of the crimes in September 2023.
Since his parents were on vacation, he was supposed to look after the animals alone.
The prosecutor said when the charges were read out that the man felt overwhelmed and frustrated.
He didn't have any social contacts of his own.
Before the crimes, the agricultural master is said to have viewed images and videos of tied women, rape and animal pornography.
Murder for satisfaction or for revenge?
On September 10, 2023, the defendant made the decision to kill a person, the prosecutor said.
He got into his car to find a suitable victim.
According to the lawyer, the man hoped that the act of violence would bring him joy or satisfaction or that he wanted to take revenge.
Accordingly, the now 43-year-old is said to have specifically looked for women who looked similar to a former classmate.
The defendant was disappointed with her because she didn't want a relationship with him.
The German was convinced that women with a similar appearance had no right to life, said the prosecutor.
While looking for a victim, the man is said to have met the 17-year-old student on inline skates in Barenburg, south of Bremen.
He is said to have stopped her and attacked her directly.
Prosecutors said he used the knife as he had for years in the emergency slaughter of pigs.
After the crime, he is said to have thrown the body into a ditch.
A few days later, the defendant decided again to kill a woman, said the lawyer.
He packed a backpack with, among other things, a knife, a balaclava, cable ties and duct tape.
He is said to have observed the entrance area in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant in Sulingen in the Diepholz district.
He is then said to have attacked a woman who looked similar to his former classmate with a knife.
Here, too, he is said to have stabbed in the neck area with the intent to kill.
Witnesses rushed to the aid of the then 30-year-old seriously injured man, but the perpetrator fled.
The woman survived and is still suffering from the consequences of the crime to this day.
While fleeing, the defendant is said to have later driven a car from behind in Burgwedel in the Hanover region towards an 18-year-old jogger who was said to look similar to her former classmate.
Here too, according to the public prosecutor's office, the man is said to have had the intention to kill.
The woman fell and was seriously injured.
Without prompt medical care, she could have died, the prosecutor said.
The woman is still suffering from the consequences of the crime to this day.
Defendant remains silent, trial interrupted
The defendant, who was sitting in the hall with shackles on his feet, followed the public prosecutor's statements calmly.
He did not want to comment on the allegations on the first day of the trial.
His defense attorney announced a statement at a later date.
According to the public prosecutor's office, the man confessed to killing the 17-year-old to a psychiatric expert before the trial began.
The man did not provide any information about the motive at the time.
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On the first day of the trial, the hearing was interrupted several times for the parties involved to deliberate.
Following legal advice from the presiding judge, the defense filed a motion for bias against the chamber, but withdrew it after various statements from those involved in the trial and another break.
The hearing is scheduled to continue on March 14th - the defendant may then comment on the serious allegations.
The court has initially set dates for the murder trial until July 2024 and has invited around 40 witnesses and two experts.
dpa