The indictment for the murder in Oey reads like a gruesome thriller: Qerim B.* (62) allegedly beat the mother of his four children to death with a hammer in a scrap yard in March 2020 and then “almost completely decapitated” her with a 35 cm long kitchen cleaver. He allegedly hit the head of Vana V.* (†31) with the two tools a total of 14 times and her neck four times.
Since then, B. has been in prison: At first he was in pre-trial detention, but in the meantime he has been transferred to prison. On Wednesday, he will now be tried at the Regional Court Oberland in Thun.
The trial at the regional court in Thun starts this morning with the questioning of the perpetrator. The suspected murderer willingly gives information to the judges in his mother tongue, the translator mediates because he does not speak German. The 62-year-old confessed, but he said he could not remember the exact course of events due to his diabetes – he had had blackouts: “When I grabbed it, I was not aware that it was a hammer. I forgot myself, no longer felt anything, no longer saw anything”.
The argument that preceded the crime was about the separation that he did not accept and a possible other man in Vana V.*’s (†31) life. “She told me that she had found a car mechanic in Biel who would replace a sensor, the front and rear brakes completely and even the control unit if necessary, and all for free. I’ve always been jealous anyway, and who changes all these things for you for free?” he testified. In addition, he had seen a hickey on her neck. In earlier interrogations, he is said to have said: “The moment she told me about the mechanic, she broke me.
In her plea, the prosecutor stated that Qerim B. did not seem to regret his crime and only felt sorry for himself. The “patriarch” had been hurt in his pride when Vana V. had fled to the women’s shelter with the children. His attitude had been very old-fashioned, for example, he had regarded his wife as a “possession”: “His wife is not allowed to work, does not have to put on make-up and should run the household at home.
She then quoted entries from the diary of the woman who was killed: “I have no air left and feel totally exploited, as if I were a slave.” And to her stepsister she allegedly said: “During the day I am his cleaning lady, in the evening his slut.” But Qerim B. apparently saw things differently. During his questioning in court on Wednesday, he said: “We loved each other. If she hadn’t loved me, she wouldn’t have come to my workplace.” During the trial, the Bosnian is said to have said that Vana V. destroyed his life with the separation. Therefore, according to the prosecutor, the motive for the cruel act was revenge.
He had also plotted the killing of the 31-year-old woman: He had insidiously lured her to his isolated place of work at the scrap yard instead of meeting her at a well-frequented rest stop, as she had suggested. He had always planned to kill and behead her unless she chose to return to him. “He literally executed her,” the prosecutor said. She demands a guilty verdict for murder and the maximum penalty: Qerim B. should remain in prison for life! In addition, a 15-year ban on entering the country should be imposed, a fine of 2,800 Swiss francs and he should pay the costs of the proceedings.
The family relationships are so bizarre that they almost sound made-up. The Bosnian got the young woman pregnant for the first time when she was only 16 years old – secretly, three more children were to follow. At that time, she was actually his stepdaughter and he was still officially together with her mother. They were all living together in Zweisimmen at the time.
The baby was born, the identity of the father remained a secret at first. But one person knew about the affair: Ladina B.* (38), the killer’s biological daughter from a previous relationship. Shortly after the crime, she told the daily Blick: “I always called the baby my stepsister had at 16 my brother, because I knew exactly who the father was: my own father.”
He was compulsively jealous, his biological daughter reported after the family tragedy: “He saw every contact she had as a possible affair. He even photographed the mileage on her speedometer to check how far she had driven.” According to the indictment, the young woman fled to a women’s shelter with her children on March 2, 2020. But this pissed off the family tyrant – he had told various relatives and also Vana V. himself that he wanted to kill her.
Almost two weeks later, Qerim B. phoned his former stepdaughter at the women’s shelter and claimed, according to the indictment, that he would now accept the separation. The two then allegedly arranged to meet the next day to discuss a few more details. He lured the mother of his four children to his workplace in Oey under the pretext that his vehicle was overloaded and he could therefore not drive on the motorway.
At about 9.40 a.m., Vana V. arrived there with the two younger children and the 62-year-old tried to win his ex-partner back. Then the two went to the office container, according to the indictment. The unreasonable family man then tried to kiss and touch Vana V. – but she pushed him away and said: “Go away, you ugly old man! Then, according to the indictment, Qerim B. committed his crime.
The children, who had apparently heard the mother’s screams, alerted the landlord of the place. According to the prosecution, the Bosnian assured him after the alleged murder that “everything was fine with his wife”. Shortly before 11 a.m., he put the children into the car and drove off.
He handed the children over to relatives and then drove to the Alpach pasture in Wimmis. There, according to the indictment, he doused himself and his vehicle with petrol in order to set himself on fire. But before doing so, he informed his relatives about the crime, the indictment continues. He then refrained from committing suicide and drove to his victim’s workplace. There he bought something to drink and was finally arrested.
After the crime, Ladina B. had only anger and harsh words for her father. “He is a bastard! He simply killed her. I hope he will be punished severely,” she told Blick in spring 2020.
https://www.blick.ch/schweiz/bern/mord-prozess-in-thun-be-qerim-b-62-toetete-in-oey-be-seine-stieftochter-die-gleichzeitig-die-mutter-seiner-vier-kinder-war-er-enthauptete-vana-v-31-mit-einem-kuechenbeil-id17320083.html
