Sprumped marriage: alcohol consumption and contradictory testimony shakes process

Sprumped marriage: alcohol consumption and contradictory testimony shakes process

In the dramatic homicide process at the Hagen district court, the children of the accused and the deceased woman are at the center of attention. Her contradictory statements throw a bright light on a marriage that was anything but harmonious. The presiding judge Heike Hartmann-Garschagen is visibly perplexed: "I don't know what to believe," she sums up after the son's interrogation.

A central topic of the negotiation is the accused's alcohol consumption. The son reports that his father was already heavily alcoholized at noon before the night of the crime and that "could hardly stand" in the evening. In stark contrast, the daughter claims that consumption has remained “within the framework” and has only risen lately. Friends and acquaintances of the dead confirm that they knew nothing about an alcohol problem of the accused. The victim's sister only received a call that dealt with the accused's alcohol consumption and learned that he was in therapy.

The night of crime

The events of the night of crime are also confused. The son returns home around 11 p.m. and finds his parents in a violent argument. He hears his mother screaming and sees how she refuses to spend the night with the grandmother. "She wanted to clarify the argument," he explains. Shortly afterwards it gets quiet. The accused claims that his wife left the house around 1:30 a.m. and rose to an unknown car. But the daughter only reports her mother missing a week later - a fact that amazes the judge. "We didn't know what we should do," says the son and admits that they thought that the mother was with friends.

The negotiation will continue on Wednesday, December 4th. The questions about alcohol consumption, the marriage problems and the mysterious circumstances of the disappearance of the woman remain pressing and unresolved. The tension increases while the truth should come to light!