A man is said to have murdered a young girl in southern Hesse almost 40 years ago. The defendant remained silent at the start of the trial.
Almost 40 years after the violent death of 15-year-old Jutta, the defendant remained silent about the allegations at the start of the murder trial in the Darmstadt regional court on Wednesday. This was agreed upon with the client in advance, said lawyer Andreas Sanders.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the 62-year-old German, who has multiple convictions, pushed Jutta into a forest in Lindenfels in southern Hesse, threatened her with a knife, raped her and then stabbed her. He is said to have tried to prevent the young person from identifying and reporting him. “He wanted that at any price,” said public prosecutor Eva Heid.
New examination of old evidence: Officials have a lead
The teenager was on her way back from the outdoor pool to her parents’ house on June 29, 1986 when the crime happened. In February 1988, a walker found her skeletal body. Jutta’s parents and two siblings are co-plaintiffs in the proceedings before the regional court.
The crime ended up with the so-called cold case units of the LKA and the South Hesse police, which from time to time systematically check unsolved murder cases for new clues and use new forensic technology to examine them for previously undiscovered traces.
When the old evidence was re-examined, genetic traces of the suspect were discovered. According to previous information from investigators, he has been convicted several times for sexual offenses and other crimes.
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