SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Germany’s longest-serving inmate dies

Germany’s longest serving inmate has died in jail after almost half a century behind bars, the news agency DPA reported on Tuesday. The notorious serial killer was once nicknamed "monster of the Black Forest".

Germany's longest-serving inmate dies
Heinrich Pommerenke in court in 1960. Photo: DPA

Heinrich Pommerenke, originally from the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, died of a blood disease at the age of 71 on Saturday in a prison clinic in the small town of Hohenasperg in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Once referred to as “evil incarnate” because of the extreme brutality of the murders he committed, Pommerenke spent 49 years in prison, longer than any other criminal in Germany.

In 1960, Pommerenke was convicted of multiple murder and rapes and given six consecutive life sentences and an additional 15 years. Between 1958 and 1959, he murdered four women in southwestern Germany, raped and attacked numerous others.

Pommerenke finally confessed to having committed 65 crimes, telling police at one point: “This is no man sitting in front of you, this is the devil.”

After his trial, the senior prosecutor said: “Nine gates, which he will never walk through again, will close behind him. He will go in Dante’s Ninth Hell.”

Pommerenke has been behind bars since June 19, 1959.

Despite his sentence running out in 2001, Pommerenke remained in jail and was categorised as “not qualified for release” in 2004. Experts said they could not rule out his being a danger to society if he were let out.

Born in East Germany, Pommerenke once played football with current Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. He moved to West Germany in 1953 and towards the end of that decade began his spree of robbery, rape and murder.

It was only after Pommerenke had killed four women that police finally tracked him down purely by accident. A man discovered a sawed-off shotgun Pommerenke had left in a briefcase at the scene of a crime.

“It was my last resort. I wanted to get arrested,” he told DPA in 2006.

Despite the long years behind bars, Pommerenke himself wasn’t sure if he wanted to be released. “I don’t want to get out if women will run away from me screaming,” he said.

Still, Pommerenke said he had a plan for a life outside the prison walls.

“Breeding snails and fish. Nature moves me,” he told DPA.

BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

SHOW COMMENTS