Murder of ex-wife: life sentence for cable strangler

The gruesome crime took place in April 2020 near a cycle path between Berlin and the Baltic Sea island of Usedom on the Panke, a tributary of the Spree. A 43-year-old man allegedly lured his ex-wife into a fatal trap for a supposed conversation after their divorce. He strangled the then 32-year-old cook with cable ties until she passed out, then raped his defenceless victim – and threw the woman, who was probably still breathing, into the water.

Missing person report and fake tears after the crime
His motive: frustration over the divorce and raging jealousy over his “ex’s” new love. The day after the bloody crime, the suspect coolly filed a missing person report with the police and cried foul when he heard that the body had been found. As the noose tightened on the investigators, the suspected female killer went into hiding in Thailand – until the handcuffs clicked at Vienna airport, shortly before he fled to Poland in late September of the previous year on an international arrest warrant.

Telling video footage on the way to the crime scene
Now, more than four years later, the trial took place at the regional court in Frankfurt an der Oder. Although the defense pleaded for acquittal, the evidence and the circumstantial evidence of the prosecution were overwhelming. Video footage was shown in the courtroom of the defendant and his wife on their way to the later crime scene.

The (not yet final) verdict: life imprisonment! Because the particular seriousness of the guilt has also been established, early release from prison after fifteen years at the earliest is legally possible, but in practice virtually impossible.