Rostock murder trial: Gina H. reads 95-page statement on death of eight-year-old Fabian
At Rostock Regional Court, murder suspect Gina H. has made her first statement regarding the death of eight-year-old Fabian. According to the FAZ, her 95-page submission is full of contradictions.
Contradictory statement in murder trial over slain Fabian from Güstrow
Murder suspect Gina H. took her first position on the charges before Rostock Regional Court on Monday morning. As reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the 30-year-old read a 95-page submission – delivered in a robotic voice with the demeanour of a schoolgirl at a reading competition. Her accounts contradict themselves at several key points.
Gina H. is accused of luring eight-year-old Fabian from his flat in Güstrow on 10 October last year and subsequently killing him with six knife wounds at a remote pond in the Mecklenburg Lake District. To conceal the crime, she is said to have set fire to the child's body. Fabian's father Matthias R. had left H. in August in a "friend-or-son decision" – shortly afterwards the boy was dead.
Alibi and mobile phone data in contradiction
H. denies having met Fabian on the presumed day of the crime. According to the prosecution, a Ford Ranger – identical in construction to her vehicle – appeared outside the two-room flat in Güstrow at around 10.50am; a nearby surveillance camera captured this. Who was at the wheel and whether the registration plate matched cannot be determined from the footage.
H. states that she was with her dog in a wooded area near Klein-Upahl at the presumed time of the crime. There she wanted to carefully consider whether she should try to salvage her relationship with Fabian's father. She had switched off her mobile telephone to do this. However, an evaluation of mobile phone data showed that she was in the vicinity of the pond where Fabian's body was found four days later. "I definitely did not register that," H. said about this in court. She claims she never saw the pond before 13 October.
This contradicts an earlier statement that she was first at the pond on 14 October. H. admitted that she had already discovered the body the night before she called the police – initially together with a man named Christian D., and later also with Olaf K. Both men had independently advised her to "under no circumstances" call the police. H. followed this advice. Both men confirmed in their own statements that they had searched for the missing Fabian together with H. H. claims she neither knew the "Schweinekuhle" nor sought it out on her own initiative.
Blood in the car and the plaster explanation
The child's blood that police found in H.'s car is explained by the accused as resulting from a swimming trip: Fabian injured himself on the toe; she treated the wound with a plaster and later dabbed it with a kitchen roll. This was the blood that the investigators found.
H. describes herself as a caring attachment figure who looked after Fabian affectionately – as she did her own biological son. At the same time, she describes herself as a "very loyal partner" who expects "unconditional loyalty" and as someone who "becomes a predator within a relationship" if that expectation is not met.
Contrasting characterisations from her environment
This self-image contrasts with statements from H.'s former circle. Her biological sister testified on the penultimate trial day that H. had "gotten through life with lies". Friends and former friends described her with words such as "domineering", "jealous" and "manipulative". A communication analysis by the Federal Criminal Office characterises H. as egocentric and controlling.
There was great public interest at the regional court. A visitor who had waited outside the red brick building since four in the morning stated that she hoped to find "hopefully" the truth in courtroom 2.002. Many spectators were turned away by court staff at the entrance doors.
Motive disputed according to prosecution
The prosecution sees the motive for the crime as a "vague hope of resumption of a relationship that was also financially advantageous for her". H. received a reduced earning capacity pension of approximately 1,200 euros per month due to mental health issues; investigators assume a financial bottleneck resulted from her unemployment.
H. disputes this account. After separating from Matthias R., she moved in with her grandparents without paying rent there. The financial situation had improved as a result: "With R., it was financially much tighter." Although she had complained about money worries in messages – which were also played in court – this was "basically without foundation". "My money worries, which I basically did not have to have, were not a reason to win Matthias back." She had wanted to save the relationship for love.
Trial continues – verdict possibly delayed
H. did not allow questions on this trial day. However, the defence enquired whether questioning could be resumed at a later trial day. Whether the verdict – originally scheduled for 10 September – can be delivered at that time is therefore questionable. The psychiatric report on H. is also still outstanding. The hearing continues on Wednesday.
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung