The police found a family of five in a house in Königs Wusterhausen in Brandenburg – all of them were dead. A farewell letter from the father is now said to contain references to a harrowing motive.
Cottbus – In the case of the five dead in Königs Wusterhausen (Brandenburg), details from the family father’s farewell letter have become known – and they indicate the man’s concerns about being arrested because of a forged vaccination certificate. According to the judiciary on Tuesday, this resulted in the 40-year-old’s fear that the children would be taken away from him and his wife.
The Cottbus public prosecutor’s office has received the letter that investigators found in the family home. According to this, the man had had a vaccination certificate for his wife forged, and her employer had found out. Now the couple was afraid of arrest and the loss of the children, as Chief Public Prosecutor Gernot Bantleon told the German Press Agency on Tuesday. According to Bantleon, the 40-year-old was not known to the police. The chief prosecutor did not want to confirm whether the family was in quarantine, as reported by several media.
Brandenburg: Farewell letter points to the father as the perpetrator
After the discovery of the five dead on Saturday in a single-family house in the Königs Wusterhausen district of Senzig, the father is considered responsible, according to investigators. The man committed suicide after the fact, the first investigations revealed, about which the police and public prosecutor Cottbus informed on Monday. A farewell letter points to the 40-year-old, it said. According to the district, the family was not known to the youth welfare office. The public prosecutor’s office is also not aware of whether the father’s fears that his children might be taken away from him are due to anything.
The man is said to have killed his wife, also 40 years old, and his three children aged four, eight and ten – all of them were found with gunshot wounds. At first it was said that they had gunshot and stab wounds. The public prosecutor’s office has now revised that. The investigators also found a firearm in the house. Whether this is the weapon that was used for shooting is currently still open.
It was also unclear on Tuesday whether the crime only happened on Saturday. The act did not happen on the same day, said Bantleon. How long the dead had already lain in the house will only be revealed by the autopsy. Results should be available in a few days.
“Using incorrect health certificates” is a criminal offense
A resident reported on Saturday evening that he heard a gunshot a few days earlier – his house is a few houses away from the crime scene. According to the investigators, the investigation continues in the vicinity of those killed.
The legislation on preparing or presenting a falsified vaccination certificate was tightened two weeks ago. Since then, the “use of incorrect health certificates” has been generally punishable. The corresponding paragraph of the Criminal Code provides for a fine or imprisonment for up to one year.
On the basis of the change in the law, private individuals must now expect legal consequences if they falsify a vaccination certificate. That was previously a legal gray area. Counterfeiting can also be punished with a fine or imprisonment for up to one year.
The director of the clinic and university outpatient clinic for psychiatry and psychotherapy at the Charité in Berlin, Isabella Heuser, commented on this type of act in general on Tuesday when asked by the dpa: Usually the perpetrator has a serious mental disorder – such as delusional – in such events Depression, delusional illness, but also a severe narcissistic or paranoid personality disorder.
Farewell letters are written for various reasons: as a justification to avoid a shameful accusation or conviction or to explain why you and your family cannot go on living in this world, Heuser said. In such cases, stated motives would usually be investigated by a forensic psychiatrist. (dpa)