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Justice Center in Wiesbaden
Photo: Boris Roessler / picture alliance/dpa
Just over a year after a fatal accident, the Wiesbaden Regional Court has sentenced a 25-year-old driver to life imprisonment for murder. The presiding judge reproached the defendant with three points: treachery with full culpability, endangering road traffic and a prohibited motor vehicle race without there being other speeders who challenged him.
According to the court, the man had raced through several red lights in Wiesbaden's city center at 2022 km/h in October 130 because of the "kick". A maximum of 50 kilometers per hour was allowed there. Eventually, his car collided with an oncoming car. Its driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown out of his vehicle. He succumbed to his serious injuries a day later. He had become a father just a few weeks earlier.
At the start of the trial in June 2023, the defendant, who has no criminal record, had shown remorse. His behavior was not intentional: "I regret it here today with all my heart," he said at the time. He knows that he will not be able to undo the events of autumn 2022 and offers his support to the victim's family.
The man and his four passengers in Wiesbaden, including a child, had been seriously injured in the accident. Investigators recreated the death drive to reconstruct the defendant's "cockpit view." In the trial, the widow and family members of the victim appeared as joint plaintiffs. The verdict is not yet final. The convicted person may appeal.
bbr/dpa