In October 2008, an 87-year-old elderly woman was found dead in her bathtub. Manfred G., who was his closest confidant, was arrested and convicted of murder out of greed in 2009. The Federal Court of Justice overturned the first verdict, but in 2012 G. was convicted again, this time with final legal effect. At that time he had worked as a caretaker in the large residential complex where the elderly woman was cared for. When a forensic pathologist discovered bruises under the scalp, the police assumed a homicide.
G. always denied murder. Only two new expert opinions, produced after years of imprisonment, pointed out that the elderly woman’s death by drowning could have been an accident. G. was released on the basis of these reports in August last year. The regional court has to completely reopen the case, 20 days of hearing are scheduled. Should G. be acquitted in the end, he is entitled to compensation of 75 euros per day in prison – a total of 368,400 euros.
The retrial began with the reading of the charges from the first trial in 2009. At that time, the public prosecutor accused G. of having stolen 8,000 euros in cash from the cash box of the 87-year-old he cared for during a hospital stay. When she noticed the lack of money after returning from the hospital, G. knocked the woman unconscious and then drowned her in the bathtub.
The alleged theft of money was refuted in the original proceedings, which ended in 2009. Defense attorney Rick said about the theft allegation that G. had had the 8,000 euros from the sale of a motorcycle and sideline activities. He used it to pay off debts. In the first trial after the refuted theft, the public prosecutor assumed a dispute as the reason for the murder.
Rick told journalists on the sidelines of the trial that it was scandalous that the prosecutor at the time simply made up another story based on the disproved motive for the theft. She also called the behavior of the expert at the time scandalous. After a conversation with the prosecutors, he adjusted his report and only then stated that the drowning could not be the result of an accident.
G. himself did not comment on the allegations against himself, but only on his career and also on his time after imprisonment. The time in prison was an “ebb and flow of emotions”. “You’ve had a lot of bad days.” The work in prison and the visits from his family, who stood by him, helped him. After his release, he was “really looking forward to it,” especially to his wife, children and siblings.
G. has two children from his second marriage. The son was still of kindergarten age when he was imprisoned, the daughter was born during his imprisonment and saw her father only in prison until he was a teenager. G. also only experienced the birth of his grandchildren from a daughter from his first marriage in prison. The accused now lives with his family and works as a driver in a cheese factory.
