Deadly poison in beverage bottles, two unconscious children, multiple attempted murder: a trial began on Tuesday in Munich against a woman who is said to have poisoned beverages at random. The big question: why?
Munich – Two children collapse in 2018 after drinking apple spritzer at an exhibition opening in Munich. Two years later it is exactly the same for three people who have bought and drank Spezi in supermarkets. The woman who, according to the public prosecutor’s office, should be responsible for it, has been on trial since Tuesday.
The 57-year-old German is accused of indiscriminately spiking drinks with gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), so-called liquid ecstasy – also known as knockout drops. In such a high dose that those who drank it could have died. According to investigators, the GBL ordered them on the Internet. The motive: unclear.
“The voice said to me: I can turn you into a murderer too,” said the accused in court when she reported what it was like for her to regularly hear this one, unpleasant, intrusive voice. “The voice is gleeful.”
The public prosecutor’s office accuses her of having resolved to “secretly move other people’s drinks and thereby poison the unsuspecting consumers of these drinks”.
However, she assumes that the woman suffers from schizophrenia and is incapable of guilt. She is not likely to face a prison sentence, but rather further placement in a closed psychiatric ward. In her trial, she does not want to comment on the allegations against her. She will “not provide any information on the matter,” says her lawyer Birgit Schwerdt before the Munich I District Court.
The accused then reported about her school days, her psychology studies and various stays abroad – and that her parents had hardly spoken to her, that she had been treated for psychological problems and that she had started to drink too much alcohol after the death of her brother. She also reports on her cancer.
The case caused fear and a stir in 2020. Three customers bought the poisoned bottles in 2020 and drank from them. According to the police, two women, aged 34 and 42 at the time, had to be treated immediately. Even a 48-year-old should have felt bad after consuming it. Two more poisoned bottles were sold – but it is still unclear to whom.
The police warned the population – and after a few weeks captured the suspect. The investigators discovered her because she paid with a debit card and left her details. Their DNA was then found on the manipulated bottles.
After her arrest it came out that she could also be responsible for two other cases: In 2018, she is said to have poisoned apple spritzer at an exhibition opening in Munich’s Gasteig. Two children, then seven and ten years old, passed out after drinking from it.
The Munich Regional Court I set 14 days for the trial. The verdict could therefore fall on December 10th. dpa
