Former Chief Physician Sentenced to Almost Ten Years in Prison for Knife Attack in Underground Car Park
A 64-year-old former chief physician was sentenced to nine years and nine months imprisonment by the Munich I Regional Court for attempted murder.
Knife Attack in Munich Underground Car Park: Almost Ten Years in Prison for Former Chief Physician
The Munich I Regional Court has sentenced the 64-year-old Rolf M. to nine years and nine months imprisonment for attempted murder. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, his defence counsel Ömer Sahinci accepted the verdict in the courtroom, as did the prosecution.
Presiding judge Michael Schönauer described an attack that had taken place just over a year ago in an underground car park on Fasangartenstraße in Munich. Rolf M. had previously armed himself with a utility knife, a knuckleduster and pepper spray and waited in front of his ex-wife's residential building for her arrival.
When the woman arrived at the underground car park with her new partner in their car, M. followed them. Through the open car window, he sprayed pepper spray into the face of the man still sitting in the vehicle. As the victim tried to get out of the car with his back to the door, M. struck. The man attempted to flee, but M. pursued him and drove the knife into his abdomen.
Meanwhile, the ex-wife managed to call emergency services. The couple barricaded themselves behind a wire mesh door and pressed against it to prevent M. from opening it. According to judge Schönauer, M. only stopped stabbing "until he had to stare down three gun barrels" – referring to the police officers who arrived shortly afterwards. Before that, M. had bitten the severely injured man in the arm and hacked at his arm with the knife.
Rolf M. was chief physician of a clinic in Upper Bavaria until 2013. His marriage had already broken down before his professional end; following the death of his sister, he fell into a "reactive depression", as he described it himself during the trial. As a result, he lost his job and his house.
According to his own account, he had been friends with his ex-wife and her new partner. When he encountered financial difficulties, the ex-wife offered to let him rent the parental home in Lower Bavaria. M. claimed he had paid 100,000 euros in advance and received an indefinite lease in return. The other side stated only 40,000 euros had been paid with no agreements regarding a permanent rental.
In June 2025, M. received notice of termination due to unpaid rent. He felt this was a breach of trust and was "surprised, disappointed, angry", the court found. His attempts to clarify the matter went unanswered. Even on the day of the offence in the underground car park, M. wanted to speak with the new partner – and it was at that moment he decided to "attack with the intention of killing".
The victim continues to suffer severely from the physical consequences of the attack. The couple have not "been able to process the experience emotionally at all", according to the court. The ruling also established that the co-plaintiffs have a claim for damages.
Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung