Was the accused even guilty at the time of the crime? This question is the focus of the trial at the Würzburg regional court on Friday against a 24-year-old who has to answer for murder. The plan is for the psychiatric expert to explain her report on the defendant. Because at the beginning of the trial at the end of October, the partial confession of the 24-year-old from Gemünden (district Main-Spessart) suggested regular drug consumption at the time of the crime. So the question arises whether he – if his guilt turns out – can be held responsible for the alleged act.
Alleged course of events
December 2019: The eight-month-old baby’s crying from the next room is said to have disturbed the 24-year-old while watching TV. Therefore, he is said to have first pressed his girlfriend’s baby on the abdominal wall with force and broken his ribs. And then, according to the prosecution, he is said to have suffocated the baby with a blanket. The 24-year-old denies this. Even after more than a dozen witnesses have been interrogated since the trial began, the motives and backgrounds remain largely in the dark.
Baby as a nuisance
The prosecution suspects, however, that the Gemündener did not see himself as a surrogate father, that his relationship with the child’s mother was disturbed and that he wanted to get rid of the “disruptive factor”, the eight-month-old baby. During the autopsy of the corpse, forensic doctors discovered evidence of older injuries on the child’s body, which suggested weeks and months of abuse. The suspect has been in custody since December 2019. The pleadings are planned for February 19th, a judgment could follow on February 22nd
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