Father sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of eight-year-old daughter in Bollschweil
The Freiburg Regional Court has sentenced a 59-year-old father to life imprisonment for the murder of his daughter. The court also found that the offence was particularly grave.
Life imprisonment for father following killing in Bollschweil
The Freiburg Regional Court issued a verdict on Monday afternoon in the murder case of an eight-year-old girl from Bollschweil (Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district). According to Google News CH — Crime (de), the 59-year-old father of the child was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. The court furthermore established that the offence was particularly grave and declared the defendant fully culpable.
A loud "Yes!" was heard in the courtroom after the verdict was announced, and several people present breathed a sigh of relief. Among those listening were neighbours, witnesses and family members.
Course of events
On 11 October 2025, the man telephoned his ex-wife asking if he could see their daughter. Although the mother refused, he drove to the house. The girl unsuspectingly opened the door for him; he then pulled her towards his car.
When the 13-year-old brother and the mother arrived, the defendant returned with the child to the house and barricaded himself inside. He strangled the daughter and inflicted severe head injuries on her. After neighbours broke a window pane, he took a knife and killed the unconscious girl. Even a police officer's shot could not stop him. Within minutes of the door being forced open by officers, the man came out of the house and was arrested.
Background of the defendant
In issuing the verdict, the judge described how the defendant had experienced little love and affection in his childhood. Recently he had been receiving basic citizen's income and, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, had increasingly fallen for conspiracy narratives, which he actively spread and retold to his children.
The man had four children with three women, two of whom lived with their mother. He had previously attracted attention for domestic violence against the mother and the children. His reputation had recently suffered — even with the murdered daughter, with whom the court said he had actually got on best. The court identified anger and frustration over the girl slipping away from him as the motive for the act.
At the start of the trial in April, the defendant broke down in tears on several occasions and spoke for hours about debts, social withdrawal and increasing cannabis use. He did not comment on the specific charges. His youngest daughter had been what he held most dear.
Unusual turn in proceedings
The case took an unusual course during proceedings. A first psychiatric report concluded that the man was not culpable at the time of the act — he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and delusions. The proceedings therefore initially began as a security procedure with the aim of placement in forensic psychiatry.
A second expert contradicted this assessment during the trial. The proceedings were then converted to regular criminal proceedings. The Freiburg Regional Court agreed with the second expert in its verdict. This means that both a custodial sentence and placement in a forensic clinic are possible. The verdict is not yet final.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)