Who once sold the murderer of the Kassel district president the murder weapon? A regional court could not clarify this question and acquitted the accused at the time. Now the Federal Court of Justice is examining.
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe is today examining the acquittal of a man in connection with the murder of Kassel District President Walter Lübcke. The now 68-year-old was accused of selling the murder weapon to the right-wing extremist and later Lübcke’s murderer, Stephan Ernst.
The Paderborn district court did not see this as proven and acquitted the man of the charge of negligent homicide at the end of January last year. At the time, the judges only sentenced him to a fine of 1,350 euros for violating the weapons law. The public prosecutor’s office in Düsseldorf appealed against the acquittal.
She claims that the regional court violated procedural regulations and did not properly assess evidence: During the trial, circumstances arose that also meant that Lübcke murderer Ernst should have been heard as a witness, explained a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office. A suspension of the trial – Ernst would only have had to testify against him as a witness in this trial after the murder sentence had become final – was requested at the time and rejected by the district court.
Case could go back to court
The accused from East Westphalia had always denied the sale of the murder weapon and ammunition to the later assassin in 2016. However, he did admit that he himself had illegally possessed firearm ammunition. Lübcke’s murderer Ernst had accused the man in earlier interrogations of having given him the gun for 1,100 euros. A judgment will be announced another day, said a BGH spokesman. If the BGH grants the appeal, the case will go back to court.
Walter Lübcke was shot in the head at close range on the terrace of his house in June 2019. The assassin Ernst was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt at the end of January 2021. This was confirmed by the BGH in August last year.
The murder of Lübcke is considered the first right-wing extremist murder of a politician in the Federal Republic. Lübcke had campaigned for the admission of refugees.
Source: Stern
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