Court to hear the Jestetten (D) homicide in December
Published: Tuesday, Nov 28th 2023, 17:20
Updated At: Tuesday, Nov 28th 2023, 17:23
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From December 11, a 39-year-old man from Latvia will stand trial for a homicide in Jestetten, Germany, at the Waldshut-Tiengen Regional Court (D). The public prosecutor's office accuses the accused of killing a 31-year-old Swiss man in Jestetten in June of this year.
The district court has scheduled a total of eight trial days for the main hearing between December 11 and the end of January, as it announced on Tuesday.
The public prosecutor's office in Waldshut-Tiengen brought charges of manslaughter in the case in mid-September. This was admitted by the court.
On June 9 of this year, the body of a 31-year-old man from the canton of St. Gallen was found on the banks of the Rhine in Jestetten. The man had apparently been camping there in the wild. According to a police statement, the cause of death was blunt force to the head. The police were initially in the dark.
Around two weeks after the crime, the 39-year-old man from Latvia was arrested as the suspected perpetrator in the neighboring town of Lottstetten (Germany). He had entered the country as a laborer and was working temporarily on a construction site.
He is accused of hitting the Swiss man at least eight times on the head and face with a massive log on the evening of June 8. The victim died of craniocerebral trauma. According to the indictment, the motive is unclear.
Already convicted of murder in Latvia
If convicted, the man could face up to 15 years in prison, according to the public prosecutor's office. The possibility of ordering preventive detention is also being examined. The accused had already been convicted of murder in Latvia in 2005. He was released from prison in 2015.
Jestetten lies close to the Swiss border with the cantons of Zurich and Schaffhausen. The crime scene on the riverbank is around 400 meters below the customs bridge that connects Rheinau ZH with Jestetten.
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