Overview
- The proceeding began on November 4 at the Hamburg Regional Court, where the defendant, the victim’s son, appeared in connection with the April 22 killing on her Moorfleet houseboat.
- According to the indictment, the mother was attacked in her sleep and struck at least 30 times with a hammer, causing an open skull-brain injury and death at the scene.
- Because prosecutors contend the defendant suffered from psychosis aggravated by drug use, the case is being conducted as a Sicherungsverfahren focused on potential psychiatric detention rather than a prison sentence.
- The presiding judge signaled that parts of the hearings could be closed to the public to protect the defendant’s personal rights, including during the pleas and his final statement.
- Police say the son called for help at about 5:20 a.m. claiming he found his mother badly injured, and investigators arrested him two weeks later in Rothenburgsort; he remains in pretrial custody.