Two men threaten nurses with knives and flee the psychiatric ward – the outbreak ends fatally for one of them. Now the surviving escapee makes a confession in court.
Kleve (dpa) – After a spectacular hostage-taking and escape from the closed psychiatry in Bedburg-Hau a year ago, one of the escapes made a confession in front of the Kleve district court on Wednesday.
The drug addict, who turned 45 on the day of the trial, told the Kleve district court that he had held a knife to the neck of a nurse and, under threats of death, forced him and a fellow patient to leave the strictly secured institution on the Lower Rhine.
Later he also drove the car that was stolen from the nurse on a night drive via Holland to Aachen. On the way they would have stopped in Venlo and bought cocaine.
The escape went on all night. The following day, May 26, 2020, the police discovered the fugitives in Aachen. The then 37-year-old partner of the accused took an innocent woman hostage at a children’s playground in Aachen and threatened her with a knife. After several warnings, the police shot him dead. The defendant had separated from his companion immediately before his arrest and was overpowered nearby after a police dog attacked and bitten him.
The trigger for the act was a court ruling that he should come back to regular detention for two old crimes after his drug detoxification, said the 45-year-old’s lawyer. That threw him completely off track because he no longer saw any perspective. The defendant said that he had lost all chances of relaxation in the penal system. He then began to drink more secretly diluted disinfectant, which consists of highly concentrated alcohol, about two weeks before the crime. On the day of the crime, May 25, he also drank large quantities of “patches” made by a fellow patient.
Alcohol, drugs, detoxification and relapses run like a thread through the life of the defendant, said his lawyer. According to the Federal Central Register, he has a previous conviction of 17 times, mostly for drug offenses and theft of acquisitions.
On the evening of the outbreak, he had the feeling that he had no more strength, reported the tall defendant with a bald head and eye-catching neck tattoos. “If you want to go, take me with you,” he said to his fellow patient who was later killed. “Then we’ll go immediately,” he replied. The decision was made so spontaneously that he first had to exchange his slippers for sneakers, reported the defendant. He also left other important things behind, including his ID.
The two men entered the lounge of the two night shift attendants at around 10:20 p.m. They threatened her with a homemade razor blade and a kitchen knife. The 45-year-old locked a nurse in a room, as he reported in court. He forced the other to use a pretext to bring the porter to open the security gate. “If the lock doesn’t open, you won’t survive,” the defendant threatened. The nurse pretended to take out the garbage with the two patients. The porter opened the door. The two patients went out to the parking lot.
The defendant faces up to 15 years imprisonment for hostage-taking and serious robbery. The court has scheduled several more days of the trial. Among other things, numerous former fellow patients are heard.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210519-99-662259 / 3
