The trial against a 42-year-old man from Eritrea began at the Bonn regional court on Tuesday. The public prosecutor accuses the husband of killing his 32-year-old wife, dismembering her body and leaving their baby in the dark.
The 42-year-old entered the hall with his black hood pulled low over his face. He did not comment on the allegations at the start of the trial. However, his lawyer announced statements about marriage and cohabitation at a later date.
The woman's remains were found in parts in November 2025: Her severed hands were first discovered on a motorway in the Sauerland. Two weeks later her body was found in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate. Garbage collectors discovered the head much later in a plastic bag near the A4 in the Olpe district.
The presiding judge said that eight different police and investigative organizations alone were involved in the proceedings. The court must gradually bring together the many pieces of the mosaic of the case.
The public prosecutor's office assumes that the woman was killed on November 16th. Her husband either strangled or suffocated her in the back seat of a car on the premises of a vehicle recycling facility in Bonn.
The 32-year-old did not expect an attack, especially since she was looking after their baby, who was also in the car. The prosecution's accusation is: "The defendant consciously took advantage of this." The baby was three months old at the time.
The electrician, who comes from Eritrea, is said to have then driven the car to Waldsolms in Hesse via several intermediate stops. His murdered wife was also from the East African nation. He left the baby in a stroller near a Coptic monastery in the dark. Temperatures of around two degrees and rain were expected. The child is said to have been found and saved in time only by chance.
The 42-year-old is said to have then severed the head and hands from the body in a forest in Rhineland-Palatinate. The public prosecutor's office alleges that he then “disposed of” the remains on the highways.
The possible motive is open. According to the defense attorney, the public prosecutor's office is relying on various evidence and materials - such as DNA findings and a mobile phone movement analysis.
At the start of the trial, the court focused on the defendant's life. According to his own statements, he fled from Eritrea via Sudan, Libya and Italy to Germany. His asylum application is said to have been rejected. But his client had been tolerated, the lawyer explained.
According to his lawyer, the 42-year-old arrived “very well in Germany”. He learned the language and worked - his employers valued him. The man worked as an electrician's assistant and as a driver.
It also became known that the 42-year-old had already been sentenced to a six-month suspended prison sentence in 2017. He had, among other things, choked someone during an argument at a construction site.
According to the co-plaintiff, the family of the deceased is hoping for clarity. She represents the woman's father and child. “The family is hoping for clarity from the process,” she said. “The investigation of the crime and a fair verdict is important for processing what happened.”
The family suffered from the agonizingly long time during which the woman's remains were found. The funeral dragged on for months. She also wants the process to send a message: violence against women will not be tolerated and has consequences.
According to the co-plaintiff, the woman had completed training in metal and wood processing in Eritrea and worked successfully in her profession. According to the information, she married the defendant in 2019. The couple had already known each other in Eritrea, said his lawyer.
According to the co-plaintiff, the woman came to Germany in 2024 as part of family reunification – “despite existing difficulties in the marriage”. The conflicts continued, so that the woman and her child, who was born in 2025, did not live with her husband, but in a refugee accommodation. She wanted to protect her child.
