Murderer of au pair Lucie found dead in Lenzburg JVA AG
Published: Friday, Dec 22nd 2023, 14:50
Updated At: Friday, Dec 22nd 2023, 14:50
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The convicted murderer of the 16-year-old au pair girl Lucie was found dead in his cell in the Lenzburg correctional facility (JVA) on Thursday morning. Due to the circumstances, the authorities assume that it was a suicide. The murder took place in 2009.
The public prosecutor's office is investigating the death. The cantonal Department of Economic Affairs and Home Affairs (DVI) confirmed on Friday at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency that the deceased was the 40-year-old Swiss national. Various online media had previously reported that the deceased was this man.
The cause of death is to be clarified by a forensic medical examination, as the DVI stated. Prison staff discovered the death on Thursday morning when they opened the cell.
According to initial investigations, there had been no signs of suicidal tendencies beforehand. The deceased man had been in prison for several years. According to the authorities, the last death in the Lenzburg correctional facility occurred in 2016 and the last suicide in 2012.
Perpetrator lured girls into his apartment
The man killed 16-year-old Lucie in Rieden near Baden AG on the evening of March 4, 2009. The then 25-year-old, unemployed and drug-addicted cook had lured the girl from Fribourg into his apartment under the pretext of taking photos and killed her.
In February 2012, the District Court of Baden sentenced the Swiss man to life imprisonment for murder and ordered him to be kept in custody. Following an appeal by the public prosecutor's office and his relatives, the High Court handed down a life sentence in October 2012.
At the end of 2013, the Federal Supreme Court revoked the murderer's life imprisonment. According to the judges in Lausanne, the measure may only be ordered if the offender is actually deemed untreatable for life.
Canton recognized errors
In August 2017, the canton of Aargau recognized mistakes made by the authorities in the murder case. It said that there had been organizational deficiencies in the execution of sentences and measures when dealing with dangerous offenders.
The girl's murderer was sentenced to a four-year work education program in the canton of Aargau in 2004. He had almost strangled a woman to death in May 2003. However, his potential danger was not properly recognized by the authorities.
The canton reached an out-of-court settlement with Lucie's parents for financial compensation. The parents had been fighting the Aargau authorities through the courts for years. The Federal Supreme Court dismissed their appeal in 2014.
The criminal proceedings against three employees of the Canton of Aargau were thus dropped. Lucie's father had filed a criminal complaint for involuntary manslaughter at the end of 2009.
©Keystone/SDA
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