The Baden-Baden Regional Court sentenced a man to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and a knife attack on her lover. In its verdict on Wednesday, however, the court did not follow the prosecution’s request to establish the particular severity of guilt. In that case, early release from prison after 15 years would have been virtually impossible.
However, it considered insidiousness and base motives to be given. The judge spoke of an “ungodly deed”. The 37-year-old had been aware of the consequences from the beginning and had literally “slaughtered” his wife.
The accused Syrian had killed his 36-year-old wife with a knife in their Rastatt flat on September 20 after he had kicked in the door. The lover escaped with several cuts. The police arrested the suspect at the railway station in Rastatt on the same day. According to investigators at the time, the couple had argued earlier. Only the evening before the crime, charges had been filed against the man and he was ordered to leave the premises.
The judge said the man had been proud of his crime and had invoked Sharia law, according to which he was allowed to punish his wife. It was clear to him that he would have to go to prison. He had told so to his brother. The 37-year-old is considered to be fully responsible.
The judgement is not yet final (Ref.: 1 Ks 300 Js 13270/20). The man’s defence lawyer had demanded a more lenient sentence and pleaded for manslaughter: In his view, neither the victim was unsuspecting nor was the crime insidious because the man had threatened his wife. The accused himself had remained silent in court.