Andreas S. is said to have shot two police officers near Kusel in January. In court, he has his lawyer tell an adventurous story about how the murders are supposed to have happened.
Sometimes defendants in large criminal trials follow the maxim “attack is the best defence”. This is exactly what Andreas S. and his two lawyers had in mind when he entered the courtroom at around 9:10 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
With a file in hand, the corona protective mask in front of his face according to regulations, the alleged murderer of the two police officers Yasmin B., 24, and her colleague Alexander K., 29, sit handcuffed in his chair. He nods politely to the cameramen and photographers.
His co-accused and his lawyers are already trying to distance themselves from the other party in advance. Florian V. has to answer to the court for commercial poaching and distribution of punishment. At the same time, he is considered the key witness to the events. Ultimately, the problem is solved by adding another table that separates the two men by a good five meters.
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Presiding judge Raphael Mall has the main defendant uncuffed before the action begins. Then chief public prosecutor Stefan Orthen read out the indictment. With his hands folded and his posture tense, the main suspect fixes his gaze on the prosecutor while the prosecutor proceeds point by point.
Accordingly, the 39-year-old passionate hunter Andreas S. is said to have murdered the two police officers during a traffic check in the early morning of January 31 to cover up his poaching. The officers had discovered 22 illegally killed wild animals on the suspect’s van. When Yasmin B. asked the operator of a bakery and a game trader for his papers, he is said to have opened fire with a shotgun, then he is said to have aimed at the colleague who tried to call for reinforcements by radio. With three more shots from a hunting rifle, Andreas S. literally executed the police commissioner from the prosecutor’s point of view. He had unsuccessfully emptied the magazine of his service pistol onto the attacker.
S. then went back, turned the van with the dead animals around, got out and noticed that Yasmin B. was still alive. He again loaded the shotgun and shot her in the face, according to the indictment. This is how his hunting assistant described it, extensive forensic investigations have confirmed his statements. The investigators also reconstructed the murders at the scene of the crime in a complex procedure and found no contradictions.
But on Tuesday morning around half past nine, the lawyers for the main defendant surprise with a spectacular volte. Andreas S. had been silent in custody for months. In order to have his lawyer Leonard Kaiser read a lengthy statement that should clear him of the murder allegations. Tenor: Not he, but his hunting helper is the real culprit.
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In detail, the lawyer builds up a chronological structure that is intended to relieve his client and burden the former hunting helper. The two will get to know each other through an acquaintance in autumn 2021. Andreas S., who had long since lost his hunting license and is up to his neck in business, is trying to keep his head above water with semi-legal and illegal shootings. To do this, he needs an assistant who collects and sets out for the deer, stags and wild boar that have been killed.
Florian V. lives on Hartz IV and has problems with the judiciary because of minor crimes. According to the account of his new companion, he is doing well at poaching from now on. In some cases, the partners go on the hunt for twelve hours and make a decent cut. However, Andreas S. claims that his hunting assistant used drugs. amphetamines and marijuana. That’s the only way he can do the hard work.
At some point V. supposedly wants to learn how to shoot as well as the boss. The accused therefore practice together. According to the admission, the younger should excel in handling the shotgun. He uses it twice to shoot wild boars “when tracking,” they say.
When Andreas S. wants to end the poaching after the lucrative Christmas trade because the hunting season is coming to an end, his partner is supposed to urge him to continue. If he doesn’t continue to earn as much money, he’ll have to “go back into the drug trade,” he says.
On January 30th, Andreas S. wants to start what is said to be the last tour of the season. His helper hands over packages with amphetamines when he meets an unknown person, according to the admission. V. himself was also high. From the car, the duo sees the wild animals using a thermal imaging camera. Andreas S. shoots them down, his assistant packs up the loot.
And then, allegedly around four in the morning, a deadly dynamic developed, in which Andreas S. claims to have lost track. He is said to have left the shotgun to his hunting assistant because he was supposed to track down a wild boar that had been killed.
The admission continues as follows: A civilian vehicle approached the country road near Kusel. The car drove so close that S. said he could no longer open the driver’s door. A man asked him to give him his papers. Then he heard two shots that hit a second person. According to his lawyer, Andreas S. has heard a big bang twice. He was surprised to find that a second person suddenly fired shots at his van with the 22 wild animals killed. He grabbed the hunting rifle on the dashboard, got out through the passenger side and pulled the trigger three times in a row. “Mr. S. just wanted the person to stop firing at him,” the defense attorney explained.
After the third shot, it became quiet. According to his own statements, S. then approached the police vehicle in civilian clothes. He then discovered the dead Alexander K. in a field. Andreas S. only noticed there that it was a uniformed police commissioner.
Shortly thereafter, he asked his accomplice to look for his identity papers.
When he turned the car full of dead wild animals, the next bang came. I was horrified to find that his assistant had killed the seriously injured police officer with the shotgun. Looking at the victim’s shattered face, Andreas S. claims to have crossed himself. After a brief argument they fled.
Lawyer Kaiser explains that his client later wanted to turn himself in to the police. However, he was arrested at that time by a special task force.
If one follows this account, the main defendant might have acted in self-defense.
In this case the huntsman would have to take the main blame. Its defender Christian Kessler reacted calmly in the face of these new representations. “This made-up story was predictable, and it did the co-defendant a disservice.”
After all, if Andreas S. is convicted, preventive detention is an option. Consequently, given the burden of proof, he chose to attack in order to defend himself legally. It is his right, which every citizen is entitled to. It will certainly be difficult for the relatives of the victims who stayed away from the start of the trial to deal with it.
