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The Regensburg Regional Court: The judges of the chamber saw an “at least conditional intent to kill”

Photo: IMAGO/Manfred Segerer

A man was sentenced to life imprisonment before the Regensburg regional court for the attempted murder of his former partner, including dangerous and serious bodily harm.

According to his own statement, the 33-year-old did not want to suffer a “final defeat” during the separation.

The man had attacked his wife, who was estranged from him at the time, with around three liters of hot oil when she was bringing their sons to an agreed appointment.

In the stairwell, where she was pushing the stroller through the door, he showered the woman's face and neck with the hot liquid.

Splashes also injured the sons.

The defendant wanted to take away the victim's "her pretty face."

The screams alerted two women in the house, who called the ambulance and helped the woman.

The judge said the quick medical care probably prevented the woman's life from being put in danger.

However, the attack was potentially life-threatening.

The woman was put into an artificial coma and flown to a Nuremberg clinic.

The background to the crime was a new relationship with his ex-partner.

When the defendant found out on the day of the crime that the woman had a new man at her side, he wrote in a chat that she had to be "rendered useless," according to a judge.

The woman was supposed to become uninteresting in the world of men; the defendant wanted to deprive the victim of “her pretty face.”

As the trial showed, before the crime, the man had repeatedly thought about how he could harm the woman or kill her.

He asked an acquaintance if he would throw acid in her face and wrote in a message that he had considered strangling his wife.

The defendant imagined what it would be like if he or someone else killed or disfigured his wife.

The judge listed the man's numerous Google searches: including queries about "hot oil skin", "acid attack" and the dangers of an insulin overdose.

The judges considered three criteria for murder to be met: base motives, treachery and cruelty.

The defendant wanted to make the crime look like an accident, but the chamber saw an “at least conditional intent to kill.”

The danger of the act speaks for this.

Statements made by the defendant in advance “gave a deep insight into his mental life.”

The verdict is not yet legally binding.

spr/dpa