2023-07-07 13:09:08
A man was acquitted in Germany today after more than 13 years in prison for the death of an 87-year-old woman, who possibly lost her life in a tragic accident and not the alleged murder for which the defendant was convicted.
Not only the defense, but also the prosecution had requested the acquittal of Manfred Genditzki, 63, considering that there are doubts not only that the defendant committed the murder, but also that such a crime had occurred, according to media reports. .
From the point of view of the experts who spoke at the trial, it is possible, and even probable, that the old woman suffered an accident when she drowned in her bathtub, contrary to the initial conviction, which suggested that it had been the accused, who worked as a janitor in the building where the woman lived, the one who had allegedly drowned her.
Genditzki, who had been in prison since early 2010, had always insisted on his innocence, fought for years for a repeat trial and raised donations to commission new expert opinions.
Manfred Genditzki, wrongly convicted of murder. Image: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa/picture alliance
Finally, in August of last year Genditzki was released after 4,912 days in prison due to doubts about his presumed guilt and the Munich Provincial Court agreed to his request for a new trial.
“You have endured this in an admirable way,” said Judge Elisabeth Ehrl when announcing the acquittal and after alluding to the stony path that the defendant had to travel.
The court is convinced that Liselotte K. died in a tragic accident, Ehrl said as he read the verdict, which marks the end of the third trial in this case, dating back to October 2008.
In 2010, the Munich Provincial Court had sentenced Genditzki. to life imprisonment for the alleged murder of the old woman, a sentence that was appealed by her defense attorney at the time and which was confirmed in a second trial with a guilty verdict.
After his acquittal, Genditzki is entitled to compensation of 75 euros for each day he spent unjustly in prison, which in his case translates to 368,400 euros, and he can also claim material damages, for example, for loss of earnings.
CP (efe, afp)
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