To strangle his 23-year-old wife, the Public Prosecution Service demands 12 years in jail against a 30-year-old man from Leens. He not only killed his wife; the unborn child also died.
The woman was more than 24 weeks pregnant. The child was viable. The Public Prosecution Service assumes multiple manslaughter.
Emergency number
The man called the emergency number 112 on the night of 27 to 28 February. The originally Eritrean man said that his wife had died. He asked for an ambulance and police. The agents and emergency services found the body of the woman in the bedroom of their home in Leens.
There was a lot of blood in the room. Two children of two and four years old were sleeping in the next room. The man sat in a dazed bathroom. He acknowledged that he had beaten his wife. The section report showed that the woman died due to lack of oxygen. She was strangled. She was five months pregnant; the child also died.
Movements in her belly
He could not imagine that he had killed his wife. He saw movements in her stomach when he called the emergency number. He and his wife had a fight. The man heard a conversation between his wife and another man earlier that day. He then concluded that his wife may have had an affair.
That evening he confronted his wife with this conversation in the bedroom. An argument followed which led to a struggle. The woman got a broken nose. The man remembered that he put his hands around the woman's throat.
He has deprived the right of two lives. The children must not only miss their mother, but also their fatherProsecutor
According to the public prosecutor, the man accepted the chance that the woman would die.
Irreparable suffering and sorrow
The unborn child also died at the hands of the man, the public prosecutor said. "He has deprived the right of two lives. This has caused irreparable suffering and sorrow, including with his own children. The children must not only miss their mother, but also their father, "the officer said.
He lost himself in his anger and could no longer control himselfLawyer Mathieu van Linde
According to a psychiatric examination, no disturbances were found in the suspect. The man has been declared fully accountable. According to lawyer Mathieu van Linde police hearings show that the man was not happy. "He lost himself in his anger and was no longer in control of himself," said the counselor.
The counsel thought the man had no intention of killing the unborn child. According to Van Linde, the man did not know that the fetus could be viable. In both cases he initially requested acquittal.
40,000 euros in compensation
The Public Prosecution Service asked for compensation for damages of 40,000 euros for both children. With an acquittal, that must be rejected, Van Linde said.
The verdict is in three weeks, on 17 September.