VMario N. didn’t have much to say when the judge gave him “the last word”. “Unfortunately, time only moves forward, I can’t turn it back,” said the 50-year-old defendant, who shot a gas station cashier last September after he had pointed out the mask requirement. In the court everything is objective, there goes under “how much I’m really sorry”.
His defense attorneys had stressed on Friday morning before the district court in Bad Kreuznach that they did not consider possible murder characteristics of the crime to be fulfilled. Defense attorney Alexander Klein said that what the accused did was neither due to malice nor to base motives. Nor was any particular severity of guilt to be determined. There are “reasonable doubts” that the perpetrator acted within the full range of his mental abilities because he acted under the influence of alcohol and in a mental crisis.
The defense pleaded manslaughter with significantly reduced criminal responsibility. She spoke out in favor of sentencing Mario N. to imprisonment without demanding a period of detention. In their plea last Monday, the public prosecutor’s office had called for a life sentence and at the same time pleaded for the particular gravity of the guilt to be determined.
He did not choose his victim at random
Defense attorney Klein demonstrated dismay during his statements. Again and again he supported himself with his hands on the table, took off his glasses, rubbed his forehead. At the time of the crime, the perpetrator suffered massively from the corona restrictions. A year and a half earlier, his father had shot himself after suffering from serious cancer and before that his wife, the accused’s mother, had also been seriously injured with a shot. The defendant was not mentally healthy at the time of the crime. His “weariness” is understandable to some extent, so there are no base motives.
In addition, Mario N. did not choose his victim arbitrarily. Gas station employees did not have to wear a mask, Mario N. initially perceived the victim as an ally. The fact that he pointed out his duty caused him great anger. “There’s nothing to suggest an insidious approach,” Klein said. He didn’t take advantage of the situation. Although he pretended to be a “normal” beer buyer when he returned to the gas station, he didn’t want to harm any third parties. He also referred to his client’s willingness to cooperate. He confessed to the crime and willingly gave the police his access data for personal devices.
The second defense attorney, Axel Küster, said in his plea: “You cannot justify the particular severity of the guilt.” The act was not characterized by “excessive brutality”. The verdict is to be announced next Tuesday.