Because of the double murder of police officers, Andreas S. has to go to prison for life. In the process, things get bizarre on several occasions. The main accused even threatened the judge several times. He shows no remorse – instead he is now probably going to revision.
He was in his element on the hunt. Hardly anyone hit as accurately as Andreas S. Contrary to hunter’s etiquette, the poacher from Saarland usually shot the animals in the head. Sometimes the cash-strapped bakery entrepreneur made 12,000 euros a month with his illegal kills. In this way, the father of four kept his head above water financially.
In the early morning of January 31, 2022, the insolvent company boss had already killed 22 wild animals in an area near the town of Kusel in Rhineland-Palatinate, which his helper collected and put in the van when a police patrol approached. The commissioner candidate Yasmin B. approached the vehicle, spoke to the poacher and asked for his papers.
The dead game peeked out of the back of the truck. Andreas S. did not hesitate for long. In cold blood, he grabbed his shotgun and shot the would-be officer. Alexander K., her colleague, retreated to the patrol car and gave one last radio message. As the huntsman watched, the gunman fired the second round at the officer, hitting him in the buttocks. The man who was shot emptied the magazine of his service weapon in vain. Andreas S. is said to have calmly picked up a hunting rifle and executed the young police officer with three more shots. The last projectile penetrated the head. When the seriously injured police officer stirred again, she also died from a shot in the head.
After a six-month trial, the jury in Kaiserslautern found Andreas S. guilty of two murders of a police officer on Wednesday morning. At the same time, the presiding judge, Raphael Mall, determined the particular gravity of the guilt. Thus, the accused will not be released after 15 years.
About the original message: Kusel’s police killer has to go to jail for life
The court found that S. wanted to use the murders to cover up his commercial poaching and violation of the gun law. The accused had lost his gun and hunting license some time ago. According to Judge Mall, Andreas S. carried out the murder of the two officers “planned and ice-cold”. With the guilty verdict, the criminal court followed the requests of the public prosecutor’s office, who in their pleading certified the fact as “executive in nature”. The officers were like animals been shot down, stated one of the victims’ lawyers.
The co-accused hunting assistant got off with a black eye. Although he was convicted of aiding and abetting commercial poaching, the court refrained from punishing him in view of his comprehensive descriptions of what happened. His defense attorney Christian Kessler was extremely satisfied with the judge’s verdict: “My client went into the proceedings alleging two murders of a police officer and has now come out of it all unpunished, which is a success.” granted initial time in the detention center.
A process that revealed questionable behavior on the part of the defense attorneys and their client is ending today. Right at the start of the session, the lawyers made a less than conclusive statement from their client, which did not want to match the forensic and forensic findings from the crime scene. Accordingly, the hunting assistant is said to have shot the police candidate. When her colleague opened fire, Andreas S. claims to have shot back in self-defense.
“That’s not a Punch and Judy show!” – Expert opinion causes trouble in the Kusel police murder process
The course of the process and the statements of the witnesses contradicted the representation.
Especially since the accused substantiated the suspicion against him through self-satisfied tirades in the courtroom and through his strange behavior in prison. He is said to have outed himself to the jailbirds as a “cop killer”. In one of his lengthy presentations in court, the defendant boasted that hunting enthusiasts in France reverentially called him the ‘executeur’ (executor). Apparently someone defined himself only by his good eye when shooting deer, stag or wild boar.
Andreas S. had thrown his grandiose business plans against the wall. The parental bakery, which he had built into a company with 21 branches, had to file for bankruptcy. Everything he did from then on went wrong. In the end, 2.4 million euros in debt.
Only the hunt remained. Here S. was a professional, here he was good, here he could show everyone. In 2020, however, the failed businessman lost his hunting license. From then on he devoted himself entirely to poaching. A passion that apparently grew into mania. The accused not only financed his family with the illegal shootings, but also seems to have brought his unstable ego back up. One who, despite all the defeats, still managed to earn a decent amount of money. And by means of extraordinary hunting sophistication.
When the police patrol showed up that early morning on January 31, this profession was threatened with an end. And Andreas S. obviously didn’t want to allow that. At least that is the tenor of the judges.
The psychiatric expert attested to the killer “certain qualities that are sometimes found in psychopaths”. What is striking, according to the expert, is a “certain coldness of mind” and overconfidence.
The suspected gunman also seemed to forget himself at times during the main hearing, complaining about bullying in prison, according to the RND. “But at some point my patience will run out. Then it escalates,” the accused raged at the judge’s table. “The last one who challenged me didn’t survive.”
In his long closing remarks, Andreas S. showed no remorse whatsoever. Looking at the relatives of the victims, he only briefly remarked: “I do not apologize for my behavior. I ask for your understanding.” The accused stubbornly insisted on his version that he only shot to save his own life. The jury came to a different conclusion. The verdict is not yet legally binding. Process observers assume that Andreas S. and his lawyers will appeal to the Federal Court of Justice.
