The trial of the so-called “bathtub murder” in Rottach-Egern is being reopened at the Munich Regional Court. Shortly after nine o’clock the accused Manfred Genditzki – dressed in dark trousers and a white shirt – entered the courtroom at a brisk pace and accompanied by his wife. There he wants to finally prove his innocence. At the end of the first day of the trial, Genditzki said: “It’s a bit stressful, but I’m fine.”
Defense “firmly expecting an acquittal”
In the new edition of the trial at the Munich Regional Court, the indictment was first read out on Wednesday morning. It is still the version from 2009: At the time, the public prosecutor assumed that Manfred Genditzki wanted to cover up the embezzlement of money by murdering an elderly woman. In the verdict, a dispute was then named as the motive for the crime.
This time, attorney Regina Rick is “firmly expecting an acquittal,” as she reiterated before the trial began. She explains that she had to fight for a retrial for so long with the “permanence of the Bavarian criminal justice system” and the “lack of error culture”. Rick: “That was the biggest hurdle.”
Retrial with 20 negotiation days
“It’s the case that we’re actually starting from scratch again, all questions are open, and that’s exactly how we feel about exculpatory and incriminating issues,” said Anne Leiding, spokeswoman for the Munich public prosecutor’s office, in the morning.
“We go back to the matter objectively from the beginning and listen to everything again, that’s how the court handles it.” Spokesperson for the Munich public prosecutor
This also requires the likely 20 days of the main hearing. Leiding: “It’s not the case that everything is already certain with a retrial – there is another public trial where everything comes up on the table.”
“Bathtub murder” trial: defendant protests innocence
The accused Manfred Genditzki continues to deny any guilt. He did not kill the elderly woman in Rottach-Egern and “did no violence to her,” said a statement read by lawyer Regina Rick. In general, Genditzki “never appeared violent” and had never “beaten up” – not even in prison.
He spent 13 years there after being sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in 2010. He is said to have knocked the 87-year-old unconscious in October 2008 in Rottach-Egern and drowned her in her bathtub – in a residential complex where he was responsible as caretaker.
Genditzki’s sister hopes for proof of innocence
The visitors’ gallery this Wednesday is filled with family and friends who have stood by Genditzki over the years. Among them his sister Sybille Ockert, who said going to court took a lot of strength during a break in the hearing.
Now she hopes that her brother can prove his innocence. “He always said: I want it to be proven, that it is proven for my children, that my children don’t go through the world with doubts and at some point think about whether there might be something trivial about it or there isn’t one ” says Ockert. Her feeling on this important day: “Today for the first time I have the feeling that one is taken seriously at all”.
Defendant worked in prison as a janitor
The 62-year-old describes his time in prison as “emotional ups and downs”. The work in the prison got him back on his feet, said Genditzki. In Stadelheim he worked as a domestic worker. He never thought of suicide while he was in prison.
After he was released from prison, he was “extremely happy to see the family”. He was particularly excited about his two grandchildren, whom he didn’t even know yet. He was also looking forward to his children and his wife, said Genditzki.
When he gave details of his CV in the Munich courtroom, he didn’t seem nervous, but rather self-confident, agile and approachable. He answered questions from the court and gave the impression that he generally wanted things to be properly clarified – whether with the police, his boss or in court.
Genditzki a murderer? Or was it an accident?
The judges in previous hearings were convinced: the caretaker of the condominium killed the elderly woman he had taken care of for years after a dispute in 2008. Although the Federal Court of Justice overturned the first judgment, the guilty verdict remained in the next hearing. For years, the Munich lawyer Regina Rick fought for a retrial – finally with success.
The decisive factors were an expert opinion, according to which the elderly woman died later than previously assumed, and a computer simulation. This shows that the 87-year-old senior could have fallen into the bathtub in an accident and drowned there.
Last August, the Munich Regional Court found that there was no longer any urgent suspicion of a crime. Manfred Genditzki was released after exactly 4,912 days behind bars. Now the case is being completely reopened. Nearly 40 witnesses and a dozen experts have been summoned, and appointments are scheduled through July.
2023-04-26 16:47:17
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