“I didn’t want that” – Man admits shooting deadly New Year’s Eve rocket

A sleeping woman in need of care died last New Year's Eve in Würzburg due to a fire that was said to have been triggered by a rocket on her balcony: a good ten months later, a man accused of this confessed before the Würzburg district court that he had detonated the rocket - from his hand, and although he claimed to have seen that the rocket was damaged. The 42-year-old said he was sorry in front of the jury. “I didn’t want that.”

According to prosecutors, the man knew that the rocket's wooden rod was broken. “This had the result, which was foreseeable and avoidable for the defendant, that the rocket initially flew straight up around three to four meters, then changed direction and landed on the balcony of the victim’s apartment,” said the prosecutor.

According to the investigation, various objects ignited there and the dangerous smoke drifted into the victim's apartment in the apartment building. While extinguishing the fire, rescue workers found the 88-year-old, mobility-impaired resident unconscious in the apartment. Any help came too late for her and she died of smoke inhalation.

A witness that evening, however, told the court that a friend of the defendant had ignited the deadly rocket shortly after midnight and deliberately aimed it at the house. In addition to the defendant, there was another suspect. However, according to the investigators, his involvement in the crime could not be sufficiently proven.

The district court has so far only set one day for the trial, to which nine witnesses have been summoned.