Court questions further witnesses about the Jestetten (D) homicide
Published: Thursday, Dec 21st 2023, 13:20
Updated At: Thursday, Dec 21st 2023, 13:20
Retour au fil d'actualité
Various witnesses testified at the Waldshut-Tiengen Regional Court (Germany) on Thursday in the trial against a 39-year-old man from Latvia. Among others, the man who found the dead wild camper was questioned.
The 31-year-old man from the canton of St. Gallen who was killed was found on the banks of the Rhine near Jestetten (Germany) on Friday, June 9 this year. He apparently wanted to spend the night there. His body was discovered by a pensioner from the neighboring town of Neuhausen SH, who had gone swimming in the Rhine with a colleague.
"The man was lying on his stomach on the embankment, his feet in the Rhine, his army stretched upwards," said the visibly agitated witness on Thursday morning during his questioning at the district court in Waldshut. The way the body was found could indicate that the perpetrator tried to drag the body into the Rhine.
The witness also stated that he had seen a gaping wound on the victim's head and therefore immediately thought that the man was probably dead. His colleague then alerted the emergency services.
DNA traces incriminate the accused
The court questioned further witnesses on the third day of the trial on Thursday, including the policewoman who was one of the first to arrive at the crime scene and a forensic technician who examined the crime scene.
Together with the witnesses, the court looked at numerous photos of the crime scene and of the victim's injuries. Among other things, the victim suffered massive head injuries as a result of the attack with a wooden mallet and died of a traumatic brain injury. Traces of the defendant's DNA were found on the alleged murder weapon.
The man was arrested around two weeks after the crime. He has so far remained silent about the allegations. The 39-year-old was originally from Latvia and arrived in Germany as a worker around two weeks before the crime. He was working in a nearby German community laying data cables.
It is still unclear what motive the accused may have had for killing the man camping on the Rhine. Financial reasons, for example, are a possibility. The accused is said to have been practically broke at the time of the crime.
Individual traces of DNA that were found also raise questions. For example, traces of the defendant's DNA were found on the penis of the man who was killed. The victim was found with his pants and underpants down.
A so-called grinder was also found in the defendant's apartment, on which there were also traces of the victim's DNA. This is a hand grinder used to finely grind marijuana. A joint was found at the crime scene itself, on which there were traces of the victim and the accused.
The trial will continue on January 9. A verdict is likely to be reached on January 23 at the earliest.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic