Guilty of six murders, multiple attempted murders and multiple attempted manslaughter: In the newly reopened trial surrounding the shooting spree that left six dead in Trier, the defendant has been sentenced again to life imprisonment. It was “a terrible act!” which “shocked the whole of Trier and brought so much suffering” to many families, said presiding judge Armin Hardt at the Trier Regional Court.
The gunman raced through the pedestrian zone in an off-road vehicle on December 1, 2020 and specifically hit passers-by. Five people died immediately and there were dozens injured and traumatized. At the end of February, another man died as a result of the serious injuries he sustained in the crime.
The jury chamber also determined the particular gravity of the guilt and ordered the man to be placed in a closed psychiatric clinic. All of this was also the tenor of the regional court’s ruling in August 2022. The gunman suffered from paranoid schizophrenia with delusions. Therefore, according to a psychiatric report, he has reduced culpability, said Hardt. However, he was not guilty of the crime.
The electrician, who was unemployed and homeless at the time of the crime, remained silent about the allegations in the second trial. The focus of the partial new edition was primarily on the question of the guilt of the now 54-year-old. Judge Hardt said there was the murder characteristic of treachery. “The victims were completely innocent and defenseless during the attack.” According to the report, the man is considered a danger to the public.
With the verdict, the court followed the demands of the public prosecutor. The defense of the gunman had demanded an acquittal on the grounds of incompetence and placement in a closed clinic.
The victims’ lawyers had joined the public prosecutor and called on the defendant to accept the verdict and not to appeal again. There must finally be closure and calm, they said.
