NewsFatal rampage in Trier: Life imprisonment and psychiatric treatment...

Fatal rampage in Trier: Life imprisonment and psychiatric treatment for perpetrators

Created: 08/18/2022 04:58 am

Amokfahrt von Trier
The 52-year-old defendant in the trial for the fatal rampage in Trier wears handcuffs in the courtroom of the regional court. © Harald Tittel / dpa

In the trial of the rampage in Trier, the verdict was made. Five people died in the crime in December.

Trier – A man raced through the pedestrian zone in Trier in an off-road vehicle in 2020, killing five people. The rampage caused nationwide horror. Now the verdict has been made in the trial of the rampage in Trier with five dead. The court sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment for multiple murders and attempted murder. On Tuesday (August 16), the Trier Regional Court also found the guilt to be particularly serious and ordered the man to be placed in a closed psychiatric hospital. The court saw it as proven that the 52-year-old raced through the pedestrian zone in his SUV on December 1, 2020 in order to kill or injure as many people as possible.

Five people died in the act: a nine-week-old baby, his father (45) and three women aged 73, 52 and 25. There were also numerous injuries and around 300 traumatized eyewitnesses. The public prosecutor had accused the German of five murders and attempted murder in 18 other cases as well as serious bodily harm.

Fatal rampage in Trier: judgment made

The jury chamber of the court, chaired by Petra Schmitz, followed the demands of the public prosecutor’s office in the verdict, the reasoning for the verdict initially continued on Tuesday. The majority of the victims’ lawyers had also spoken out in favor of life imprisonment and the placement of the man in a psychiatric ward. The defense was for hospitalization.

According to the opinion of a psychiatric expert, the 52-year-old suffers from paranoid schizophrenia with bizarre delusions. He is therefore less culpable and is considered dangerous to the public. The accused sees himself as a victim of “a large-scale conspiracy by the state” against him and feels persecuted, bugged and observed, the expert reported. The amok driver does not want to have any memory of the crime period.

Fatal rampage in Trier: perpetrators were silent in the process

The trained electrician remained silent about the allegations throughout the process. According to the indictment, at the time of the crime he was single, unemployed, without a permanent address and frustrated by his personal circumstances.

The bereaved and those affected are relieved that the process is coming to an end after a year, said Bernd Steinmetz for the Disaster Aftercare Foundation of the German Press Agency. “It’s been a burden now for a long time.” The process was “a milestone for processing”.

In the more than 40 days of negotiations since August 19, 2021, dozens of witnesses have been heard who spoke of traumatic experiences. Many had described how the man deliberately approached his victims, hitting, injuring and killing people. They also reported how heavily the experience weighed on them to this day: the images kept coming back, they remembered the screams from back then.

Fatal rampage in Trier: perpetrators were silent in the process

According to the public prosecutor’s office, when the judgment becomes final, the measure of placement in a psychiatric ward will be carried out first. It applies indefinitely. Should an expert come to the conclusion after 5 or 25 years that the man is cured, then the normal prison system will follow.

The amok driver is therefore “probably not going to get out of prison anymore,” said senior public prosecutor Samel. In the case of lifelong sentences, the chamber for the execution of sentences will examine for the first time after 15 years whether it is justifiable to suspend life imprisonment at all. In most cases, however, this is not the case. (sne/dpa)

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