13.5 years in prison after killing and desecrating corpses in Zurich
A 38-year-old man strangled his 28-year-old lodger in Zurich in 2016 and desecrated the body. Now the district court sentences him to 13.5 years in prison.
the essentials in brief
- In 2016, a man strangled his lodger and desecrated her body.
- Now the 38-year-old has been sentenced to 13.5 years in prison.
- First, the perpetrator was declared innocent, now the case has been reopened.
The 38-year-old man who strangled his 28-year-old subtenant and desecrated her body in Zurich in September 2016 will be sentenced to 13.5 years in prison. The Zurich District Court waived the order for custody on Wednesday.
The court found the Swiss guilty of intentional killing and disturbing the peace of the dead. The victim’s mother and three sisters were awarded damages totaling almost 17,000 francs, and the mother also received 20,000 francs. The verdict is not yet legally binding. It can be appealed to the High Court of the Canton of Zurich.
Defense pleads for self-defense
The public prosecutor had demanded a prison sentence of 18.5 years and the custody of the accused. The defense attorney had pleaded for acquittal. The accused acted in self-defense because the woman attacked him.
The crime was committed in Zurich in September 2016. The accused and his subtenant, an IT specialist from Paris, had once again got into an argument. The man put her in a “headlock” and squeezed until the woman was dead. Then he attacked the corpse.
Perpetrator declared innocent in 2018
In 2018, the district court declared the man guilty of homicide and ordered an inpatient measure. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison for desecrating the corpses. The Zurich Supreme Court upheld the verdict.
However, the federal court found procedural errors. The case went back to the public prosecutor and had to be reopened. The court is the man this time as guilty.
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