Enlarge image
Main defendant (right) in court in Bochum
Photo: Roland Weihrauch / dpa
After fatal shots were fired in a Bochum underground car park, a 27-year-old man from Dortmund was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder on Friday. According to the verdict of the Bochum Jury Court, the man had shot a 7-year-old in his car on March 58 of this year.
The trigger for the crime was a dispute in road traffic. A judge called the defendant a "dangerous psychopath" in his sentencing. The act was an "ice-cold execution".
In addition to the sentence to life imprisonment, the court also determined the particular gravity of the guilt and ordered preventive detention for an unlimited period of time – for the protection of the general public.
Six shots in the head
The victim had been killed by six shots to the head. The 27-year-old had confessed to the crime in the trial, but explained that he had been insulted and had lost control. The verdict is not yet final.
A 29-year-old co-defendant from Witten was sentenced to one and a half years in prison on probation. According to the verdict, he had helped the main defendant to escape.
wit/dpa