20 years' imprisonment for knife murder of wife in Monthey – court exceeds prosecution's demand
A man stabbed his wife in Monthey VS with five kitchen knives and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The sentence is significantly higher than the prosecution's request.
District Court of Monthey convicts man of murder of his wife to 20 years
The District Court of Monthey has convicted a man of the murder of his wife to 20 years' imprisonment – a significantly higher sentence than demanded by the prosecution. As reported by Google News CH — Crime (de), prosecutor Emmanuelle Raboud had requested 16 years; the defence pleaded for wilful homicide and demanded only six years.
The perpetrator, a naturalised Swiss citizen from North Macedonia, attacked his wife on 3 August 2023 following a row over money. Under the influence of alcohol, he first attacked her physically before stabbing her 34 times. He used five kitchen knives in succession – the blade of a knife broke on four occasions. The victim suffered numerous injuries to the neck, face and upper body.
The couple's daughter attempted to protect her mother during the attack and was injured on her hands in the process. She knocked her father to the ground, whereupon he stabbed himself in the chest with a knife. The daughter wrenched the weapon from him. Only with the arrival of the police did the attack end.
The court also convicted the man of aggravated common assault on his daughter. In delivering the verdict, court president Florent Boissard described the killing as particularly brutal: the accused had left his wife no chance. Without the slightly diminished culpability due to alcohol consumption, according to Boissard, a life sentence would have been imposed.
The court was also not convinced of the man's genuine remorse. It considered the motive for the crime particularly reprehensible: according to the verdict, the trigger was mere suspicions about how the couple's joint money was being used. The prosecution spoke of an extraordinary outburst of violence – the man had repeatedly fetched new knives after the blades of those previously used had broken.
Defence counsel Pauline Elsig described the imposed sentence as "extraordinarily harsh". She and her client now intend to examine whether they will contest the verdict before the cantonal court. The accused apologised in court to his children and asked them for forgiveness.
The court awarded compensation to both children: the son receives approximately 172,000 francs, the daughter 80,000 francs.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)