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CRIME

Schürrer gets life sentence for murdering Swedish kids

Christine Schürrer, the German woman found guilty of murdering two children in Arboga, Sweden has been sentenced to life in prison.

Schürrer gets life sentence for murdering Swedish kids
Christine S. with her lawyer during the trial. Photo: DPA

Schürrer had convicted by Västmanland District Court of murdering three-year-old Max and his one-year-old sister Saga, and then attempting to kill the children’s mother, 23-year-old Emma Jangestig, at the family’s home in Arboga on the evening of March 17th.

Schürrer had been in a relationship with Jangestig’s then boyfriend, Torgny Hellgren, and according to prosecutors Frieda Gummesson and Johan Fahlander, her obsession with her ex-boyfriend served as the motive for the killings.

Investigators were never able to tie Schürrer to the crime scene with physical evidence. Instead, prosecutors based their case on strong circumstantial evidence.

Despite the lack of fingerprints or DNA evidence, the court ruled that there was “overall convincing evidence” against Schürrer.

The court determined she had lied about her reasons for visiting Arboga the night of the murders. They also the distressed caused by her break up with Hellgren as a motive for the killings.

The court found Schürrer guilty in late August, at which point it ordered a psychiatric evaluation to determine the appropriate punishment.

She refused to answer questions about the crime, and was ultimately deemed healthy enough to be sentenced to prison.

In addition to receiving a lifetime prison sentence, Schürrer must also pay 457,892 kronor ($64,600) in compensation to Jangestig, as well as a total of 131,329 kronor to other plaintiffs in the case.

Schürrer’s attorney Per-Ingvar Ekblad has said previous to the TT news agency that he plans to appeal the district court’s decision.

CRIME

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

A 17-year-old has turned himself in to police in Germany after an attack on a lawmaker that the country's leaders decried as a threat to democracy.

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

The teenager reported to police in the eastern city of Dresden early Sunday morning and said he was “the perpetrator who had knocked down the SPD politician”, police said in a statement.

Matthias Ecke, 41, European parliament lawmaker for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), was set upon by four attackers as he put up EU election posters in Dresden on Friday night, according to police.

Ecke was “seriously injured” and required an operation after the attack, his party said.

Scholz on Saturday condemned the attack as a threat to democracy.

“We must never accept such acts of violence,” he said.

Ecke, who is head of the SPD’s European election list in the Saxony region, was just the latest political target to be attacked in Germany.

Police said a 28-year-old man putting up posters for the Greens had been “punched” and “kicked” earlier in the evening on the same Dresden street.

Last week two Greens deputies were abused while campaigning in Essen in western Germany and another was surrounded by dozens of demonstrators in her car in the east of the country.

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but less than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

A group of activists against the far right has called for demonstrations against the attack on Ecke in Dresden and Berlin on Sunday, Der Spiegel magazine said.

According to the Tagesspiegel newspaper, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is planning to call a special conference with Germany’s regional interior ministers next week to address violence against politicians.

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