Chainsaw attack in Berlin-Lichtenberg: suspect probably not guilty
A man attacks his neighbor, dismembers her with a chainsaw and severely injures her partner in the face. Investigators believe he has a serious mental illness.
Morris Pudwell
After the brutal chainsaw attack in Berlin-Lichtenberg with a dead woman and a seriously injured man two weeks ago, the public prosecutor assumes that the 34-year-old suspect could be innocent. A spokesman told the Berliner Zeitung: “We suspect that he has a serious mental illness. It cannot be ruled out that he could have acted in a state of incapacity.”
For this reason, after an initial assessment, the suspect was also taken to the correctional facility, a hospital for mentally ill offenders, and not to normal custody, the spokesman explained. The incapacity should now be determined by a main report and a subsequent court hearing. Then it will also be decided whether the man has to stay in psychiatry permanently or not. The public prosecutor’s investigation into manslaughter, attempted manslaughter in combination with dangerous bodily harm and violations of the weapons law are continuing.
Attack with a chainsaw: 52-year-old federal police officer still in the hospital
The 34-year-old German is said to have dismembered his neighbor with a chainsaw in the night from January 5th to 6th in the high-rise building on Paul-Zobel-Strasse in Lichtenberg. The woman’s 52-year-old partner, a federal police officer, intervened and was seriously injured in the face and arms. After his arrest, the suspect was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.0.
The 52-year-old had to be operated on by a team of surgeons for several hours in the accident hospital in Berlin (UKB). He is still in the hospital, as a UKB spokeswoman said on Friday when asked by the Berliner Zeitung.