A 38-year-old man stabbed his pregnant partner to death because his web of lies was in danger of collapsing. The Regional Court in Lüneburg is convinced of this and sentenced the Tunisian to life imprisonment on Thursday.
This was in line with the prosecution’s demand, which had pleaded for malice murder and termination of pregnancy. “One thing is certain, the accused killed the woman,” said presiding judge Franz Kompisch. He spoke of a “completely senseless act” and called the man a “liar and impostor”.
It had been his plan to live at her expense through a web of lies. When her social welfare benefits were about to be reduced and he was supposed to present his documents as the father of the unborn child, he had decided to commit the cruel act, which he did not want to confess in the trial. The verdict is not yet final.
The man had moved to Germany to be with his girlfriend, whom he had known in his youth and later rediscovered via Facebook.
According to the court, he killed the 36-year-old woman with a kitchen knife. She had resisted. Under the victim’s fingernails, only the 38-year-old’s DNA traces were found.
The man had pretended to have a job at VW, but never was paid. A psychiatric expert could not find any impairment of the accused’s ability to control.
A medical report showed that he was the father of the unborn child. The lawyer demanded an acquittal. “A lot is unclear,” she said.