Old injuries to the infant remain a mystery

Despite Corona restrictions, the Wrzburg district court around chairman Claus Barthel is vigorously advancing the process of the alleged murder of an eight-month-old baby from the Main-Spessart district, sometimes with eight-hour sessions into the evening. Dates are set until the end of January, and more witnesses had their say on Thursday. But when a verdict will be passed is just as open as the question: Can the murder allegation against the mother’s 24-year-old boyfriend be held up?

His lawyer Hanjo Schrepfer rejects the murder allegation against his client. However, the accused, who regularly consumed drugs, does not want to rule out the fact that he inadvertently caused the infant’s death by being wrapped up too vigorously.

Lots of witnesses and no clarity

The 24-year-old is said to have gone into the next room when the baby’s crying while watching TV disturbed him in December 2019. Then the child was silent. When his mother checked on him an hour later, the baby had turned blue and was no longer breathing. Resuscitation measures were unsuccessful. According to contradicting witness statements, it is uncertain whether the mother’s friend had been rough with the baby in the weeks before.

The taking of evidence dragged on Thursday with half a dozen witnesses. Neither the treating pediatrician nor the emergency doctor and his helpers at the scene had noticed any previous injuries on the child. When asked, the doctor emphasized that, contrary to the mother’s statement, she had never advised to “swaddle” the eight-month-old infant (technical term for: wrap it tightly in a blanket) when he screamed. “That was never an issue,” she said. “Spitting in” too intensely is a possible cause of the baby’s death.

Injuries to the skull and ribs

Forensic doctor Michael Bohnert specifically asked the witnesses about multiple broken ribs and a skull fracture on the back of the baby’s head. They were discovered during the autopsy and are said to have been made weeks before death. But none of the witnesses was able to provide specific information.

Employees of the youth welfare offices of the district of Wrzburg and Main-Spessart had the small family in focus: One employee said on the witness stand that the situation between the defendant and the young mother of the infant was a “tightrope walk”. But she and her colleagues did not take the child away from the mother because there were neither signs of abuse nor indications of deficiencies in nutrition or body care.

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