Verdict expected: father accused of murdering eight-year-old in Bollschweil
The Freiburg Regional Court is expected to deliver its verdict on Monday in the trial over the death of an eight-year-old girl from Bollschweil. The 58-year-old father is charged with murder.
Murder trial over slain eight-year-old: Freiburg Regional Court announces verdict
As reported by Google News DE — Crime (de), the Freiburg Regional Court is expected to deliver its verdict on Monday at 14.00 in the trial over the violent death of an eight-year-old girl from Bollschweil in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district. The public prosecutor accuses the 58-year-old father of the child of murdering his daughter in October of last year.
According to the charge, the German man called his ex-wife by telephone on the day of the alleged crime to ask if he could see their daughter. When she refused, he drove to her house. The eight-year-old unsuspectingly opened the door for him, whereupon he dragged her to his car. When her 13-year-old brother and mother arrived, the accused pushed the girl back into the house and barricaded himself inside.
Inside, he is alleged to have strangled the child and injured her head. When neighbours broke a window pane, he allegedly seized a knife and killed his unconscious daughter. A police officer fired a shot at the man to stop him — but all help came too late. Eventually the accused left the house of his own volition and allowed himself to be arrested.
At the start of the trial, the 58-year-old visibly struggled with his composure and broke down in tears several times. For hours he spoke about debts, social withdrawal, daily visits to the cemetery, and increasing cannabis consumption. He remained silent on the specific charges against him. His youngest daughter had been what was "most precious" to him.
The course of the proceedings was unusual: an initial psychiatric report found the man not criminally responsible — he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and delusions. The proceedings thus began initially as a preventive detention proceeding, which aimed at commitment to forensic psychiatry. However, a second expert reached the opposite conclusion and rejected the finding of diminished responsibility, whereupon the proceedings were converted into a regular criminal trial. Both a custodial sentence and commitment to a forensic clinic are now under consideration.
Source: Google News DE — Crime (de)