A couple of doctors stabbed in their own house, the four children were present at the time of the crime and then the serious suspicion against the 16-year-old daughter: the double murder in Franconian Mistelbach caused horror far beyond the community near Bayreuth at the beginning of the year. The trial against the daughter and her boyfriend for joint double murder begins on Wednesday before the juvenile chamber of the Bayreuth Regional Court.
Attentive neighbors heard calls for help in the village of 1,600 shortly after midnight on the night of January 9th. Shortly thereafter, the rescue workers discovered the 51-year-old husband and his 47-year-old wife dead in the basement of the family home – both had been stabbed.
The case also shocked the town because the couple was very well known - husband Stefan S. was a pediatrician and was about to found a new group practice. The alleged murderer of the couple is said to have been in the house with the knowledge of the two, it was the then 18-year-old friend of the 16-year-old daughter at the time of the crime - the eldest of the four children.
The growing man turned himself in a few hours after the bloody deed after a short escape. What the investigators only announced weeks later: the 16-year-old daughter had fled with him and had surrendered. Initially, however, the public prosecutor's office and the police did not publicly raise any suspicions against the young people. It was not until six weeks later that they also arrested the oldest of the four children.
What exactly happened on the night of the crime, the court wants to clarify at 16 hearing dates until December 16th. Many questions about this are still open. According to investigators, the friend stabbed the parents. His girlfriend, the daughter, is said to have made it possible for him to carry out the crime unhindered. Legally, this is considered an active contributor to the murder, which is why she is also charged with murder.
The public prosecutor's office and the police assume a family dispute as the motive for the bloody deed. According to youth criminal law, both face up to ten years in prison if convicted. If the court sees a particular degree of guilt, the sentence can be increased to 15 years.
