The victim of the murder in Basel is a 75-year-old local resident. The authorities searched for the 32-year-old suspect – and found him on Friday.
Die UPK in Basel – keystone
The most important things in brief
- A 75-year-old local resident was killed in the homicide in Basel.
- She had previously reported a man behaving suspiciously to the police.
- The perpetrator was apparently on psychiatric leave and was arrested on Friday.
- Expert Baier defends the measure and emphasizes the importance of outdoor exercise.
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According to the public prosecutor’s office, a 75-year-old local resident was killed in a homicide in Basel on Thursday. She was found dead in the afternoon in the stairwell of an apartment building in the Breite district. The perpetrator, who was on psychiatric leave, was arrested on Friday.
The man had already killed two people in 2014 and had been ordered to receive inpatient mental health treatment. The fact that he has now murdered another woman while on unaccompanied parole has led to criticism of the psychiatric care at the University Psychiatric Services of Basel-Stadt.
Dirk Baier, a criminologist at the University of Zurich, defends the clinic, saying that the granting of parole is done very carefully and the practice is very restrictive. Working with prisoners is very complex, he told Nau.ch, and resocialization remains the primary goal. And parole is an important step towards this.
Expert Baier: We must not question the freedom of movement across the board
Most of the trips were unremarkable. “That’s why we shouldn’t question them across the board.”
Baier also addresses the contradiction between the goals of the penal system and the enforcement of measures: guaranteeing security and enabling resocialization. The goal of resocialization is of great importance in a free, modern society. To achieve this, offenders must sooner or later be given the opportunity to prove themselves in freedom. “That is why all offenders should actually be given the opportunity to be released.”
Before the crime, a local resident reported a man behaving suspiciously in the property to the police. The police then cordoned off a large area around the crime scene that afternoon. The police set up a special commission to determine the exact course of events and the identity of the perpetrators. They were looking for witnesses.
The murder took place in the blue house. – Screenshot Google Street View
The suspected perpetrator initially fled after the incident, as the public prosecutor’s office of the canton of Basel-Stadt announced on Friday night. On Friday afternoon, they then issued a wanted notice for him.
The authorities warned that he was dangerous and strongly advised people not to approach him.
On Friday afternoon, the manhunt was successful. The wanted Swiss citizen was caught thanks to a tip-off from an attentive third party. This was announced by the Basel public prosecutor’s office. The arrest took place on Unterer Rheinweg.
Perpetrator was apparently on psychiatric leave
As the “Basler Zeitung” previously reported, the suspected perpetrator is said to be a man from the psychiatric department of the University Psychiatric Services Basel-Stadt (UPK).
On the day of the murder, the man was on unaccompanied parole in the afternoon, the newspaper further reports. The man must have gone “quickly and purposefully” from the UPK to the crime scene.
The perpetrator of the Basel attack has been caught. – Public Prosecutor’s Office of Basel
The suspect in Thursday’s murder in Basel had already killed two women in the same neighborhood in 2014. The Basel public prosecutor’s office confirmed this on Friday in response to a request from the Keystone-SDA news agency.
He also seriously injured another man. This was confirmed by Martin Schütz, spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office.
Perpetrator was not guilty
In September 2015, the Basel Criminal Court ordered inpatient psychiatric treatment for the severely mentally ill man. It found that the perpetrator, who was not criminally responsible, fulfilled the elements of the crime of multiple murder and attempted murder.
After the recent murder, tension and fear reigned in the Basel district, reports the “Basler Zeitung”. “More transparency on the part of the police would have been desirable,” said one resident.
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University of ZurichBasler ZeitungTatortFear
