Mon, Mar 25th 2024
A man’s gruesome plan under the guise of bravery leads to a cold-blooded murder and a landmark ruling.
The Aargau High Court has found a 25-year-old man guilty of the murder and attempted murder of a friend. It handed down a prison sentence of 19 years ordered inpatient treatment.
The High Court has confirmed the judgment. The mandatory prison sentence has been postponed in favour of the inpatient measure for severely disturbed offenders.
The measure has no predetermined end. Release depends on the success of the treatment. This is why the measure is also popularly known as “short detention”.
At the sentencing hearing, the presiding judge appealed to the defendant: it was now up to him to “take your chance” and participate in the therapy in such a way that it would be successful. The convicted to custody if he does not comply with his therapy.
The ruling is not yet legally binding. It can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court. The lawyer wanted his client to be classified as unfit to stand trial due to his mental disorder and to be acquitted. To this end, he requested a new or supplementary psychiatric report.
It was undisputed that the young man needed inpatient treatment. Unlike in the first instance hearing, the defence lawyer no longer categorically demanded a measure for young adults that must end on their 30th birthday. It seems that ship has sailed.
On April 7, 2019, the accused tricked his 24-year-old colleague into crawling into a narrow cave on the Bruggerberg under the pretext of a test of courage. He then blocked the entrance with boulders and earth. The man buried alive had no chance of survival froze to death in the cold cave.
Just a week earlier, the accused had pushed the same colleague down a steep slope in Ticino. He was lucky to survive with only minor injuries and assumed it was an accident. The court classified this incident as attempted murder.
©Keystone/SDA
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