Man brought before Zurich High Court for murder and desecration of corpse
Published: Thursday, Jun 20th 2024, 04:40
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A 40-year-old man allegedly killed his subtenant in Zurich in 2016 and desecrated her body. The accused is appearing before the Zurich High Court for the third time in this case today, Thursday.
According to the indictment, on September 20, 2016, the man put his 28-year-old subtenant in a "headlock" in his apartment and squeezed her so tightly that she died. Afterwards, the man violated the corpse and draped a skipping rope over her. This was intended to give the impression that the woman had collapsed while exercising.
The proceedings have been dragging on for almost eight years without a legally binding judgment. Procedural errors and ambiguities have led to delays. The accused has been in prison since the crime.
Guilty or not?
The Zurich District Court convicted the Swiss national for the first time in 2018. It found him not guilty of murder. However, he was guilty of the desecration of the corpse. It sentenced him to 22 months' imprisonment. The High Court confirmed the sentence.
However, the Federal Supreme Court criticized gross procedural errors - it was unacceptable to determine the man's culpability differently for the two offences. It therefore referred the case back to the public prosecutor's office.
In May 2022, a different panel of judges at the district court sentenced the defendant to 13.5 years' imprisonment for intentional homicide and disturbing the peace of the dead. The prosecution and defense both appealed the sentence.
The public prosecutor demanded a prison sentence of 18.5 years and custody. Although the defendant confessed, he denied any intention to kill. The defense claimed a "tragic accident" and requested a 24-month prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter, or manslaughter at most.
Psychiatric report supplemented
On September 1, 2023, the case was heard for the second time by the Zurich High Court. However, the court did not feel able to pass judgment at the time. The man's mental state was too unclear. The court ordered a supplement to the expert opinion. This is now available so that the High Court can decide.
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