Frauenfeld court finds only one defendant guilty
Published: Monday, Mar 4th 2024, 18:10
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In the Barchetsee murder case, the Frauenfeld TG district court acquitted one of the two accused on Monday. The court sentenced the second to 15 years' imprisonment for murder.
The court could only base its verdict on circumstantial evidence. In such a case, a guilty verdict may only be reached if the court has "no reasonable doubt" about the perpetration of the crime. In the Barchetsee murder case, however, this only applied to one defendant, a now 63-year-old Swiss landlord.
In the case of the second defendant, a 59-year-old Italian crane operator, it was "not established that he was the second perpetrator", said the presiding judge in the oral reasons for the verdict. Although there were clues, they "did not add up to an overall picture that left no room for doubt". The man will receive compensation and damages totaling around 40,000 francs.
The judgments are not yet legally binding. They can be appealed to the High Court of the Canton of Thurgau. The public prosecutor had demanded life imprisonment for murder for both defendants. The defense lawyers pleaded for acquittal for both men.
Undercover investigations justified
In reaching its verdict, the court primarily evaluated the statements that the accused had made to two undercover investigators in 2022. The court countered the defense's objections by stating that the requirements for their deployment had been met. The suspect had described the crime in detail on his own initiative, without being put under pressure.
According to the judge, he mentioned numerous details that had never appeared in the media and that only the perpetrators could have known. For example, the media had only been informed that the body had several gunshot wounds. However, the accused had faithfully stated the individual shots to the back, arm and leg as well as a final, fatal shot to the head.
The man was "certainly a storyteller", the judge referred to an argument of the defense. However, his statements were credible, contained various features of reality and overall gave the impression that he had experienced it himself. They also fitted in well with the evidence that had been secured and the reconstructed sequence of events.
Every single detail of the account could have coincidentally corresponded to the facts, the judge said. "All together, only those who were there could have known". In addition, the accused had continuously adapted his statements to the findings of the investigators. This and other circumstantial evidence left the court with "no doubt whatsoever about the man's perpetration".
Involvement unclear
It was different with the co-defendant. He had not been explicitly named as an accomplice by his colleague, but only in hints. However, according to the judge, various details were not correct and there were other people in the convicted man's circle who could have been involved. All in all, the court was "not convinced of the 59-year-old's involvement in the crime".
The court justified the classification of the crime as murder on the grounds that the subsequent victim had been in debt to the main defendant. He had killed him "out of pure grievance over a trifle". The accused had acted unscrupulously and insidiously. According to the court, an alleged order to kill by the victim's wife - who has since died - could not be established.
The verdict has now brought a long-running case to a provisional conclusion, at least in part. It remains unclear who the second perpetrator was.
On December 13, 2007, the body of a 27-year-old Egyptian man weighed down with a concrete element was discovered in Lake Barchet in Thurgau. The investigation remained unsuccessful for a long time. Years later, the "cold case" was reopened. Undercover investigators were also deployed. The two men were then arrested in August 2022.
©Keystone/SDA
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