A beautifully renovated farmhouse surrounded by old trees with dark green leaves in a prime location in a Bern suburb, there is a sleek sports car in the garage and the window front allows a glimpse of high-quality and exquisite furnishings. The idyll here seems perfect.
At second glance, however, you can see the thick layer of dust that has already settled on the Jaguar in the carport: the speedster has not been moved for a long time, the license plate has been removed.
The apartment looks deserted. No wonder: Boris H.* (50) is in jail, his wife Viola H.* († 54) is dead.
He researched toxins
flashback. According to an article in the “NZZ”, Boris H., who has been married for many years, fell in love again. The conflict-shy and introverted native of Bern is said to have been too cowardly to tell his wife Viola H. about his new flame and to leave her. H. soon wanted to make vacation plans with his new wife, but his unhappy marriage got in the way. And he began researching the effects of toxins.
One day he is said to have ordered large quantities of a drug against gout on the Internet. It is toxic if overdosed. There is no antidote. The side effects of the tablets include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Ideal for the devilish plan. He apparently assumed that nobody would suspect these symptoms, after all, his wife had an eating disorder.
Suspicion of common gastrointestinal disease
He pulverized the tablets and mixed them into his wife’s porridge on the morning of March 20, 2021. Viola H. had to struggle with diarrhea and vomiting a short time later, but the hospital sent her home with suspicion of a common gastrointestinal disease.
On March 22, the 54-year-old was still not feeling better and was hospitalized again. Two days later her circulation failed. Multiple organ failure. Viola H. died in the hospital.
So far he has denied the crime
Boris H. then mimed the grieving widower, as the “NZZ” writes. Until the results of the autopsy were available. The man from Bern was arrested on April 7 and has been behind bars ever since. He allegedly denies the fact.
It was not until the beginning of March 2022 that the public finally found out about the alleged poisoning in the Bern suburb, when the public prosecutor communicated the indictment of murder.
The trial was supposed to take place this Monday. But the Bern-Mittelland regional court said on Tuesday: “Please note that this hearing has to be postponed to a later date due to the current state of health of the accused.”
“And we felt sorry for him at first”
In the quarter where the former couple once lived, people now know more or less what is supposed to have happened in the middle apartment of the newly renovated farmhouse – the bewilderment is still great months later. “And we felt sorry for him at first when we found out about his wife’s death,” says a local resident to Blick.
The suspected poisoner and his wife were hardly known in the suburbs. The apartments were only ready for occupancy in November 2020 and also due to Corona, there was little contact with each other in the months leading up to the drama in March 2021.
A neighbor reports of “many civilian emergency services” that she saw after the unexpected death – another woman says the apartment had been sealed for a long time. What will happen to the couple’s newly renovated condominium is still open.
A shock for the employees
Even if things were obviously not going well in private life, the Bernese had both feet on the ground financially. He was CEO of a consulting company in the IT industry. The company announced to Blick that the alleged killer was neither the founder nor the owner of the company – he was only engaged as a managing director.
The employment relationship ended in June 2021. The company does not want to comment on the exact circumstances or on the person. Just this much: The story was clearly a shock for the employees.
The ex-CEO is presumed innocent until a final judgment has been passed. A new date for the court hearing has not yet been set.
* Names changed
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