A trans-identified male from South Africa is standing trial for the murder of a security guard at the asylum shelter he had been staying at. Hilton Henrico G., who was identified as a “woman” by German press, had a history of violent assault leading up to the attack and had been in Germany illegally at the time as his asylum application had been rejected years ago.
Hilton, 38, was first apprehended in May of 2024 after fleeing the scene of a brutal stabbing at a refugee accommodation on Geschwister-Scholl-Straße in Potsdam. Due to strict privacy laws, Hilton’s full name has not been released by police.
While the motive for the crime is currently unclear, the prosecution has detailed that Hilton had a clear “intent to kill,” noting his repeat, targeted stabs to the victim’s heart. According to Tagesspiegel, despite rapid assistance at the scene, the security guard, who was a Syrian migrant himself, died of his injuries before making it to hospital.
As previously reported by Reduxx, Hilton fled the crime scene, triggering an extensive manhunt by the Brandenburg West Police Directorate. The area around the asylum shelter was cordoned off, and police searched the nearby Sanssouci Park with the assistance of tracking dogs.
In a bizarre twist, just three hours after the manhunt began, Hilton himself contacted police to file a report that he had been misgendered at a supermarket in the neighboring district of Schöneberg. Due to a lack of communication between police dispatches, the officers who responded to the misgendering incident were unaware that Hilton was on the run for murder, and took his statement on the alleged “hate crime.”
After reporting the “transphobic incident,” Hilton was allowed to leave and continue about his day.
A trans-identified male has been charged after allegedly stabbing a Syrian national to death at a refugee shelter in Potsdam, Germany.
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) May 31, 2024
The man fled, but was arrested after calling the police to report he had been misgendered.https://t.co/6uObRNpaZ7
Later on that day, the authorities in Potsdam learned of the complaint regarding the “transphobic incident,” which provided them with clues about the area where the Hilton might be located, ultimately leading to his arrest.
The deadly attack in May of 2024 was not the first incident linking Hilton to violence. As early as February of 2023, more than a year before the crime, he allegedly attacked another person with a knife in a housing facility in Potsdam, injuring them in the arm. This incident, which is also part of the current legal proceedings, was classified as dangerous bodily harm. Hilton was reportedly already known to authorities as a potential risk at that time.
Investigations by the Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten (PNN) further revealed that Hilton had attracted attention in several refugee shelters due to threats and “psychological abnormalities.” Fellow residents and staff reported repeated conflicts, which led to him being transferred between facilities multiple times.
Hilton arrived in Germany from South Africa in 2018, applying under an asylum claim that was rejected by May of 2021. Despite appealing the rejection, the Administrative Court in Cottbus upheld the decision and declared him “subject to enforceable deportation.” Matthias Vogt, a court spokesperson, told BILD: “Since May 2021, [Hilton] has been immediately deportable as we denied his urgent request against the rejection of his asylum application.”
The responsibility for facilitating Hilton’s deportation lay with the Potsdam Foreigners’ Office, supported by the Central Foreigners’ Authority (ZABH) in Eisenhüttenstadt. The ZABH is now accusing the city of Potsdam of failing to report Hilton’s location to them so they could ensure he was detained and deported.
The incident has now resulted in tension between the different authorities, all of whom are accusing one another of being responsible for the failures that resulted in Hilton being able to avoid deportation and commit the stabbing.
Hilton’s case has also sparked a broader political debate, with politicians accusing the German government of having “egregious administrative failure” and “a lack of political will to enforce the law at times.”
The trial at the Potsdam Regional Court is expected to last several weeks and aims to shed light on the circumstances of the crime as well as the failings of local authorities. Hilton faces a sentence ranging from at least five years to life imprisonment, though he denies ever having committed the crime.
Despite the fact that Hilton has not changed his legal sex, several media outlets, such as B.Z. Berlin and Tagesspiegel, have referred to him as a “woman” standing trial for manslaughter.