Only lengthy investigations into the poison attack at the TU Darmstadt brought the investigators on the trail of a student who is considered mentally ill. In court, she now admits to having mixed the chemicals into food. But she didn’t want to kill anyone.
Darmstadt (dpa / lhe) – In the case of a poison attack at the Technical University of Darmstadt, the accused woman confessed to having mixed chemicals in food. In the act on August 23, 2021, seven members of the TU were poisoned, and one scientist was briefly in mortal danger. Prosecutors have charged the poison attack as attempted murder.
Doctors had diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia in the accused German national before the trial began. In the ongoing jury trial, the main question is whether the woman should be placed in a closed psychiatric clinic for several years of therapy.
In the statement that her lawyer read before the Darmstadt Regional Court on Tuesday, the 33-year-old said that in 2020 and 2021 she heard voices, felt persecuted and spied on – by members of the Materials Science Department, her neighbors and during her Time as a working student at the Darmstadt Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research (GSI).
The defense attorney explained that his client wanted to “teach a lesson” to these people who she felt had been harassing. “Then she decided to distribute hazardous substances in the coffee kitchens,” said the lawyer. The 33-year-old did not want to permanently damage or even kill anyone. She mixed the chemical mixture in honey, UHT milk and water tanks from coffee machines.
The former student also stated through her lawyer that she had assumed that the bromoaniline she used, among other things, was harmless in small doses. Only the hazard symbol for irritating substances was on the vessel. Bromoaniline disrupts the oxygen supply to the organs.
The lawyer further explained on behalf of his client that she no longer hears voices, no longer feels persecuted and wants to be treated further.
The psychiatric expert Sergiy Davydenko from the University of Mainz confirmed in court that the woman had paranoid schizophrenia with acoustic hallucinations. According to his diagnosis, her ability to control was complete at the time of the crime and her ability to understand was partially abolished.
“There is no alternative to placement,” said the forensic psychiatrist. The woman had to go to a closed specialist clinic because she was just beginning her therapy. The medication has reduced the symptoms, but still needs to be optimized, said the specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy. The trial will continue next Tuesday (December 6th).
