The Gera Regional Court has sentenced a man for murder 27 years ago. The Chamber considered it proven that the now 66-year-old abused the then ten-year-old Stephanie in Thuringia and then killed. The court imposed a life sentence on him. It followed the request of the prosecutor.
"Murder is not barred, and that's good," said the presiding judge of the "Bild" newspaper.
The 66-year-old defendant was suspected in March of this year, lured in August 1991 ten-year-old Stephanie from the Goethe Park in Weimar and later abused and killed. The prosecution had accused him of having thrown the child from the Teufelstalbrücke on the Autobahn 4 at that time. The fall from about 48 meters height did not survive the girl.
The man had at least partially confessed to the crime in police interrogations. In court, he claimed that he had dropped off the girl at the Teufelstalbrücke on the highway 4 only. His defense attorney said his client had assumed that it had not been abusive when he asked the child to strip in front of him. The defendant is therefore to be acquitted of the charge of murder.
50 Mark offered
The driver was arrested in Berlin in March. A specialized on old cases special commission dealt with the case - and came across the motorist who lived in Berlin. He had previously committed sexual offenses against children who resembled the act that fell victim to Stephanie. (A detailed report on the investigation can be found here.)
In the process, a witness had recently heavily burdened the 66-year-olds. She stated in court that she recognized him as the man who lured the girl out of Weimar Park 27 years ago. She had been in the park when she was ten years old with her friend Stephanie when the accused had approached her.
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He offered Stephanie 50 marks if she showed him the way to Belvedere Palace. As a result, the girl, who wanted to buy a bicycle from the money, had gone with the unknown and had not returned.