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Two jailed for kicking homeless man to death and burning body

A Cologne court on Tuesday sentenced a man and a woman to jail for kicking a homeless man to death, and then burning his body last year.

Published: 20 June 2017 13:54 CEST

Two jailed for kicking homeless man to death and burning body

The underpass in Cologne. Photo: DPA

On a cold November night last year, police discovered a fire in an underpass in the inner city of Cologne, the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reports. Only upon closer inspection did they realize that there was a body within the flames.

A medic called to the scene could only confirm the death.

Further investigations revealed that the man had regularly slept in the underpass, and that two other homeless people were responsible for his murder.

Both of the culprits were sentenced to seven years and six months in jail on Tuesday by the state court in Cologne. The sentence went further than the punishment called for by prosecutors.

The culprits kicked their victim to death, aiming at his head and stomach, the court heard. They then burned him to try to eradicate the evidence.

The defendants claimed they had acted in self-defence, saying the victim had sexually assaulted the woman.

According to the SZ, violence against and among homeless people has been increasing in recent years.

A report by the Federation for the Support of the Homeless (BAGW) published in January found that 17 homeless people were killed in Germany in 2016, and that there were a further 128 cases of violent assault.

In one case that made national headlines in December, a group of young refugees set fire to the belongings of a sleeping homeless man in a Berlin metro station. The main culprit was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison earlier this month.

Nine face trial in Germany for alleged far-right coup plot

Nine suspected participants in the coup plot will take the stand in the first set of proceedings to open in the sprawling court case, split among three courts in three cities.

The suspects are accused of having participated in the “military arm” of the organisation led by the minor aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss.

The alleged plot is the most high-profile recent case of far-right violence, which officials say has grown to become the biggest extremist threat in Germany.

The organisation led by Reuss was an eclectic mix of characters and included, among others, a former special forces soldier, a former far-right MP, an astrologer, and a well-known chef.

Reuss, along with other suspected senior members of the group, will face trial in the second of the three cases, in Frankfurt in late May.

The group aimed to install him as head of state after its planned takeover.

Heinrich XIII arrested at his home following a raid in 2022.

Heinrich XIII arrested at his home following a raid in 2022. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Boris Roessler

The alleged plotters espoused a mix of “conspiracy myths” drawn from the global QAnon movement and the German Reichsbûrger (Citizens of the Reich) scene, according to prosecutors.

The Reichsbürger movement includes right-wing extremists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic.

Its followers generally believe in the continued existence of the pre-World War I German Reich, or empire, under a monarchy, and several groups have declared their own states.

Such Reichsbürger groups were driven by “hatred of our democracy”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in Berlin on Sunday.

“We will continue our tough approach until we have fully exposed and dismantled militant ‘Reichsbürger’ structures,” she added.

READ ALSO: Who was involved in the alleged plot to overthrow German democracy?

‘Treasonous undertaking’

According to investigators, Reuss’s group shared a belief that Germany was run by members of a “deep state” and that the country could be liberated with the help of a secret international alliance.

The nine men to stand trial in Stuttgart are accused by prosecutors of preparing a “treasonous undertaking” as part of the Reichsbürger plot.

As part of the group, they are alleged to have aimed to “forcibly eliminate the existing state order” and replace it with their own institutions.

The members of the military arm were tasked with establishing, supplying and recruiting new members for “territorial defence companies”, according to prosecutors.

Among the accused are a special forces soldier, identified only as Andreas M. in line with privacy laws, who is said to have used his access to scout out army barracks.

Others were allegedly responsible for the group’s IT systems or were tasked with liaising with the fictitious underground “alliance”, which they thought would rally to the plotters’ aid when the coup was launched.

The nine include Alexander Q., who is accused by federal prosecutors of acting as the group’s propagandist, spreading conspiracy theories via the Telegram messaging app.

Two of the defendants, Markus L. and Ralf S., are accused of weapons offences in addition to the charge of treason.

Markus L. is also accused of attempted murder for allegedly turning an assault rifle on police and injuring two officers during a raid at his address in March 2023.

Police swooped in to arrest most of the group in raids across Germany in December 2022 and the charges were brought at the end of last year.

Three-part trial

Proceedings in Stuttgart are set to continue until early 2025.

In all, 26 people are accused in the huge case against the extremist network, with trials also set to open in Munich and Frankfurt.

Reuss will stand trial in Frankfurt from May 21st, alongside another ringleader, an ex-army officer identified as Ruediger v.P., and a former MP for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann.

The Reichsbürger group had allegedly organised a “council” to take charge after their planned putsch, with officials warning preparations were at an advanced stage.

The alleged plotters had resources amounting to 500,000 euros ($536,000) and a “massive arsenal of weapons”, according to federal prosecutors.

Long dismissed as malcontents and oddballs, believers in Reichsbuerger-type conspiracies have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat.

Earlier this month, police charged a new suspect in relation to another coup plot.

The plotters, frustrated with pandemic-era restrictions, planned to kidnap the German health minister, according to investigators.

Five other suspected co-conspirators in that plot went on trial in Koblenz last May.

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