Alleged Solothurn arsonist denies accusations again
Published: Monday, Sep 16th 2024, 11:50
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In the trial for the series of fires in Solothurn Wasseramt in 2022, the 35-year-old defendant once again denied the twelve arsons accused by the public prosecutor. "Yes" - this is what the Swiss man said when asked by the court president whether he had nothing to do with the fires.
The evidence largely speaks against the defendant, as the questioning at the Bucheggberg-Wasseramt district court in Solothurn on Monday made clear. The defense lawyer nevertheless announced that she would request an acquittal for her client.
In the first arson on April 2, 2022 - the clubhouse of the Halten SO hornussen club went up in flames - the analyzed cell phone data showed that the Swiss national had been in the area at the time of the crime. The court president therefore wanted to know from the defendant at the trial on Monday how he explained this. "I don't know," said the man.
Before another fire, he had previously sent a message to acquaintances with his whereabouts. However, the analysis of his cell phone's peripheral data showed that he had been near the scene of the fire, as was revealed during the trial.
The court president wanted to know how he explained the fact that the cell phone had dialed into different antennas. The defendant's answer: "I don't know." The defendant also denied the other evidence presented to the court.
However, the edge data of the cell phone is not available for all of the arsons accused - because the telephone provider had problems storing such data at the time. The data on the antennas was thin for clear evidence, said an expert at the hearing.
Internet search in the middle of the night
According to the indictment, the accused also searched Googlemaps in the middle of the night for possible fire objects - for example, a joinery. 53 minutes later, there was a fire there. This also happened in two other cases.
The defendant's DNA traces were secured during a fire. These traces came from a walkabout with a fellow firefighter, he said. The DNA traces were found on the kindling near a wood store.
During the last arson in the Kriegstetten school building, the accused was captured on a video camera. The video showed the accused entering the school building - and leaving again shortly before the fire broke out. He had wanted to check the doors, he said in court. "You didn't check any doors, but went purposefully to the basement," said the court president. The defendant gave no plausible answer to this.
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