Defense lawyer pleads manslaughter at Baden District Court
Published: Thursday, Jun 13th 2024, 16:00
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On Thursday, the fourth day of the Bergdietikon murder trial, the defense lawyer had his say at the district court of Baden AG. He pleaded for the crime to be classified as manslaughter and a prison sentence of eight years.
With regard to the classification of the crime as manslaughter, the defense lawyer tried to convince the court that his client had committed the crime in a "violent emotional state".
After discovering a photo of his wife having sex with another man, he was stunned. This was "an unsurpassable slap in the face".
The now 49-year-old knew nothing about his wife's affair and had not planned the crime, said the defense lawyer. Otherwise, he would have removed all the cameras from the apartment "purely as a precaution", which he had installed there as protection against burglars.
If he had planned to kill his wife, he could have done so in his old home country of North Macedonia. There, "such acts would be judged more leniently", according to the defense lawyer.
Tussle over cell phone
As the accused described on Wednesday, his wife was in the bathtub taking a shower in the early hours of September 25, 2022. He stepped into the bathroom, where the cell phone was lying on the sink. Then he saw the picture.
She had tried to take the phone out of his hand. A scuffle ensued, during which they both fell into the partially filled bathtub. He pushed the woman, who was struggling violently, under the water until she stopped moving. According to forensic medicine, she was strangled and drowned.
Afterwards, he put on dry clothes, threw the running hairdryer into the bathtub, locked the bathroom from the outside and slipped the key under the door. According to the indictment, he wanted to fake a suicide. A little later, he called the emergency services and reported that his wife had locked herself in the bathroom and was not answering.
The psychiatric expert had denied an "emotional storm" due to this considered behavior after the crime, among other things. There were also no other signs of any impairment of culpability. The defence lawyer criticized the expert opinion as insufficient and not usable.
Prosecutor demands murder qualification
As the public prosecutor explained on Wednesday, the case was clearly a murder. The prosecutor demanded a sentence of 18 years imprisonment. He must have known about the affair long ago due to his surveillance.
The accused had acted out of jealousy, revenge and financial interests. According to the relevant contracts, he would have been entitled to millions in the event of the suicide or accidental death of his 41-year-old wife. After the crime, he had done everything possible to fake a suicide.
Surveillance despite harmony
The Swiss couple, who both came from the Albanian culture, had a harmonious, loving relationship according to the defendant's account. She had a career as an economist and earned a lot of money. He, a trained business economist with a bumpy career path, took care of the household and children.
Despite the harmony, he monitored her via cell phone tracker in the months before the crime. He had equipped the apartment - except for the bathroom - with cameras. In the end, these turned against him: The videos gave investigators an insight into a less than harmonious marriage and had recorded the wife announcing her departure from "camera hell" the day before the crime.
Defendant regrets
In his closing statement, the defendant affirmed how sorry he was for his "terrible crime". He was arrested the following day, confessed and is currently serving an early sentence.
For security and space reasons, the trial was held on the premises of the cantonal police in Schafisheim. The verdict will be announced on Friday afternoon.
©Keystone/SDA
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