Overview

• The court said it was convinced the 59-year-old was the perpetrator but found no murder element, classifying the act as manslaughter that expired after 20 years.
• Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for murder, the defense argued for acquittal, and the defendant denied committing the killing.
• Because the court determined he committed the act, he will not receive compensation for nearly three years spent in extradition and pretrial custody.
• Police linked the case to the defendant in 2022 through an automated Schengen-wide DNA match to a German-Polish citizen living in the United Kingdom.
• He was arrested in Britain in September 2022 and extradited to Germany in January 2025 before standing trial in Bochum.