mThe witness made it clear from the start of his testimony that he is no longer related to the 27-year-old accused of three murders. He is the defendant’s uncle – and by law he still is, the Rostock district court judge explained to him. The 59-year-old lost his brother, the defendant’s father, his sister-in-law and his niece in the crime in February 2022 in Rövershagen. According to the indictment, the 27-year-old killed all three with a crossbow and a garden machete.
The witness spoke quickly in Russian on Friday and broke down in tears during testimony. “Now everything is coming again.” He never expected such a thing in his life. “You’ve raised a really decent boy,” he said to his brother in 2012, as the interpreter translated. The accused arrived in Germany from Russia with his family about 20 years ago. He and his sister were adopted children. “He loved Him very much,” the witness said of her brother’s relationship with his son.
The defendant has remained silent since the trial began on Nov. 15. Even on Friday he looked at the table in front of him with his head bowed. According to the indictment, he is said to have shot his victims several arrows in the head. The witness recalled a phone call in November 2021, months before the time of the crime. His brother told him about a crossbow that his son bought and that he used to shoot at a door and walls. But his brother paid for the crossbow.
On Friday, a former financial advisor testified as a witness, who accompanied the family for a long time in financing the house and met regularly with the parents. He described his father as bossy, quick-tempered, overbearing and determined. The family was very frugal and very anxious to pay off the loan as quickly as possible. The court also questioned a witness from whom the 27-year-old had borrowed a van for a day, with which he allegedly transported the bodies.
According to the prosecutor, the defendant killed his father (52) and sister (25) in the house in Rövershagen on February 7, 2022, and a few days later his mother (48). According to the indictment, he buried the bodies in self-made coffins on the lonely edge of a field. He is charged with arsonable manslaughter, two counts of murder to cover up a felony and one count of low-motivated murder.
The defendant is a German citizen and has been in custody since the end of March 2022. If found guilty, he faces life imprisonment. Friday was the ninth day of the hearing. The trial will resume on January 19.
