An 89-year-old pensioner has been sentenced to five years and four months in prison for manslaughter because he stabbed his wife out of anger over an alleged affair 63 years ago. The accused senior had confessed to the crime: In an argument, the 82-year-old had accused him of the fact that their eldest daughter was not his. The real father is “younger, more beautiful and richer than you,” his wife added. He couldn’t stand it and stabbed her.
The public prosecutor’s office had charged him with murder. But the court assumed that the knife attack was carried out out of jealousy. The woman was not innocent or defenseless. “This does not fulfill the murder characteristic of insidiousness,” said presiding judge Rainer Drees.
The senior citizen inflicted a total of 20 cuts and stab wounds on his wife. The 82-year-old died in the shared apartment. After the crime, the pensioner tried to kill himself. He was rescued seriously injured. The daughter found her parents in their apartment and called the emergency doctor.
The public prosecutor expressed doubts: The Macedonian must have really wanted to believe in his wife’s misstep because a paternity test proved that he was the biological father of the older daughter. He had demanded seven years in prison. The defense attorney had not made a specific request. She only asked that the defendant’s advanced age and his confession be taken into account.
The 89-year-old will probably serve his sentence in the special prison for seniors near Paderborn. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
