At the first hearing before a court in Brescia about the fatal boat accident on Lake Garda on June 19, the main defendant apologized to the relatives of the two victims on Wednesday morning.

As reported by the Italian media, the 52-year-old Munich Patrick K. turned to the relatives of Greta N. and Umberto G with the following words after the one-hour hearing on technical issues relating to the course of the process: “I beg your pardon and accept them Criticism.

We wanted to get in touch with you personally or with a letter on the first day, but we were told that this was not the right time.

I am not soulless either.

I haven't been able to sleep for months. "

Matthias Rüb

Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.

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Patrick K., who is under house arrest in Brescia on charges of negligent homicide and failure to provide assistance, appeared with his wife at the court hearing.

The second defendant, Christian T., who owns the unlucky Riva boat, did not appear at the trial date on Wednesday.

Patrick K. had already admitted at earlier interrogations that he had steered the motorboat on the late evening of June 19, when it rammed the boat with the two Italians at extremely high speed.

Victims had little chance of survival

The 37-year-old Umberto G., whose body was only found the morning after the accident in the abandoned wooden boat floating on the lake, was dead on the spot according to investigations by the coroners. The 25-year-old Greta N. suffered serious injuries in the collision , was thrown out of the boat and drowned. Her body was recovered by divers at the bottom of Lake Garda at a depth of almost a hundred meters. According to the coroner's findings, Greta N. was also so seriously injured in the impact that she would have had little chance of survival even if she had been rescued quickly.

The accident had sparked great outrage on Lake Garda, but also in all of Italy.

Especially since the fact that the two suspects were released after the first interrogations and immediately returned to Bavaria, had heated the mind.

Shortly after an international arrest warrant was issued on July 5, the skipper Patrick K. surrendered to the Italian authorities at the Brenner border crossing.

He has since been under house arrest near Brescia.

The next trial date was set for December 16 by the judge.

The second defendant, Christian T., should also appear at the appointment.

Compensation in the millions

According to Italian media reports, the insurance companies of boat owner Christian T. and boat driver Patrick K. made compensation payments to the relatives of the victims before the start of the litigation. Greta N.'s family received payments of 2.5 million euros, while Umberto G.'s survivors received 1.3 million euros. Italian media had previously reported accumulated claims amounting to nine million. The relatives of the two victims withdrew from the proceedings as joint plaintiffs after the compensation had been paid. The municipalities of Salò and Montana del Garda continue to appear as joint plaintiffs in the proceedings. The trial is expected to come to a swift conclusion because the prosecution and defense have agreed to start the trial immediately.

Surveillance camera recordings played a major role in securing evidence. The shot from the moment of the collision at around 11.30 p.m. shows the motorboat approaching at high speed, which crashes with full force against the properly illuminated boat, literally jumps over it and continues unabated. A later shot of the marina shows the two Munichers mooring after the end of their nocturnal joyride in the boat, with both apparently stumbling heavily alcoholized and one of the two even falling into the water. During the first interrogations, the two had stated that they had not noticed anything about the collision with the wooden boat and instead assumed a collision with driftwood.A few days after the accident and in view of the suspects' departure to Bavaria, Greta N.'s father had told a television station: "It's indescribable, not even animals behave like that."