A 53-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Bielefeld Regional Court for a double murder in Espelkamp in North Rhine-Westphalia.

According to the court's findings, he shot the 51-year-old and her 48-year-old brother out of desperation over the planned divorce from his estranged wife, a court spokesman said on Wednesday.

He was convicted of two murders for base motives and treachery in the case of his brother-in-law.

The court also determined the particular gravity of the guilt, which largely rules out early release.

The man, who was 52 at the time of the crime, entered the apartment of his separated wife in Espelkamp on June 16 last year with a duplicate key in order to ambush her and her brother.

When they returned, he shot his brother first.

When his wife fled, he shot her too.

According to the chamber, he fired five shots at his brother-in-law and three at his wife.

She died despite attempts at resuscitation.

The man initially managed to escape, but was caught a day later.

Since then he has been in custody.

The public prosecutor's office initially assumed that the defendant was concerned with excessive monetary claims from his wife after the divorce.

Therefore, a conviction out of greed came into consideration.

In the course of the proceedings, the defendant admitted to the crimes, but stated that he had not planned them.

However, since he had ambushed his two victims in the apartment, the court did not consider this reasoning to be credible.

The verdict is not yet legally binding.