Life sentence for 30-year-old woman following murder of eight-year-old Fabian in Germany
A 30-year-old German woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of primary school pupil Fabian. Early release is considered virtually impossible.
Jury court convicts 30-year-old woman of murder of Fabian
As nachrichten.at reports, the jury court chamber sentenced a 30-year-old German woman on Tuesday to life imprisonment for the murder of eight-year-old primary school pupil Fabian from Güstrow. The court thereby followed the prosecution's demand and simultaneously established the particular gravity of the offence – early release from prison after 15 years is thus practically ruled out. The verdict is not yet final.
The defendant received the verdict without any visible reaction. In its closing argument, the prosecution cited a closed chain of circumstantial evidence and emphasised that, even without a confession or direct eyewitnesses, there were no reasonable doubts about her culpability. The woman herself had repeatedly asserted her innocence throughout the trial, which had been ongoing since the end of April.
On the penultimate day of the trial, the defendant announced in her final statement that, in the event of a guilty verdict, she would lodge an appeal. "I will fight as long as it takes until I am free again," she said. Her defence lawyers, after more than 30 days of hearings, identified many outstanding questions and, on the basis of the principle "in dubio pro reo", pleaded for acquittal.
The case attracted major public attention in Germany in October 2025. Hundreds of police officers searched for days for the boy until, on 14 October 2025, a child's body was discovered at a pond on a field near Klein Upahl south-west of Güstrow. The corpse, which had been set on fire after the crime, was identified as Fabian shortly afterwards.
It was precisely the defendant who reported the discovery to police. Initially, she stated that she had found the dead child by chance while out walking with a friend and dogs. Later, she admitted that this account was false and that she had been at the discovery site twice the previous evening with different acquaintances.
The woman had been in a relationship with Fabian's father for years; the relationship ended in August of the previous year. According to the prosecution's view, the defendant saw the child as an obstacle to the continuation of this relationship. The father stated that the relationship with her currently exists again – even during her imprisonment; in recent months he had also looked after her horses.
The trial attracted enormous public interest from the outset. Long queues of spectators had already formed outside the court hours before the start of proceedings on the day of the verdict. Fabian's mother attended almost every day of the hearings as a co-plaintiff; the large courtroom 2.002 was frequently – as on the final day of proceedings – filled to capacity.
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)