In March 2020, a 17-year-old was raped and murdered in Ludwigshafen. Because the criminal proceedings are taking too long, the perpetrator is released from custody after two and a half years. Now he’s back in prison. Investigations have “revealed concrete new facts”, according to the judiciary.
A 19-year-old man who had not yet been convicted of murder and rape and was released from custody in Rhineland-Palatinate is back in prison. The public prosecutor’s office in Frankenthal had obtained a new arrest warrant against the man from the local district court, the judiciary in the Palatinate city said. Investigations had therefore revealed “concrete new facts” that would have justified a risk of recurrence regarding another victim, it said.
The man was taken to a juvenile detention center. The 19-year-old was sentenced to ten years in prison on August 2 in Frankenthal for murder and rape. According to the judgment, which is not yet final, he raped and strangled a 17-year-old girl in Ludwigshafen in March 2020. According to the judge’s verdict, he also sexually abused two other children in three cases. After the verdict, the defense lodged a complaint with the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Zweibrücken.
On October 6, 2022, the Higher Regional Court lifted the arrest warrant against the accused, who had been in custody since March 13, 2020 – more than two and a half years. Reason: The continuation of the pre-trial detention can no longer be reconciled with the defendant’s claim for an accelerated sentencing, the delays were not his fault. The release of a murderer from custody who had not yet been convicted had caused a public outcry.