The trial of a triple murder in the Bavarian Forest began with emotional scenes in the Deggendorf regional court. Family members of the victims were deeply shocked and in tears as the charges were read out. The mothers of two of the dead testified in tears. The defendant is said to have killed two 22- and 26-year-old neighbors for sexual arousal and to have killed the 56-year-old partner of one of them to cover up the crimes.
The 39-year-old defendant, a Slovakian citizen, entered the courtroom wearing a baseball cap on his head. He hid his face behind a folder. He initially did not make a statement.
The defense attorney announced that his client would make a statement. He has been in custody for 15 months and has been drug-free for the first time in a long time. This “cleared his head” and made it clear to him what terrible things he had done or could have done, said the lawyer.
The allegations impressed not only experienced lawyers, but also the defendant, the defense attorney continued. His client developed depressive episodes and was given medication in the prison in order to be able to sleep as much as possible.
The indictment describes the cruel crime in sober words in all its details - just as the public prosecutor is convinced it happened. Accordingly, the man invited his 26-year-old neighbor over in June 2025 after she had an argument with her boyfriend. The woman and the defendant are said to have consumed drugs, alcohol and medication together.
After the woman fell asleep on the sofa, the man sat on her in order to kill her for sexual gratification, the senior public prosecutor said. The defendant choked her and strangled her with a cable. When he noticed the smell of corpses a few days later, he cut up the body, hid the upper body in the refrigerator and placed the legs in a sports bag in a forest.
When a 22-year-old neighbor developed a scorching fire in her apartment a good two weeks later while she was cooking, the defendant invited her to his apartment as well. Also out of sexual desire, he is said to have hit her repeatedly on the skull with a beer bottle and a hammer, caused her numerous fractures and wrapped her head with cling film.
The woman suffered “the most severe agony” in the agony that lasted at least 20 minutes and tried in vain to protect herself with her hands. The man is said to have responded to her cries for help with “Now shut up.”
When the man wanted to sexually abuse the woman's corpse, her boyfriend, who had since returned home, knocked on the door and called for her. In order to cover up the killing of the women, the defendant is said to have murdered him with numerous blows of the hammer.
According to judicial information, the defendant later turned himself in to the police in Austria. The public prosecutor's office sees several criteria for murder as being met: insidiousness in all three cases, and in the case of the women also to satisfy the sexual drive. In the second and third cases, cruelty and, in the case of the man, to cover up a crime.
The reading of the allegations was almost unbearable for the relatives. Three family members reported that the situation in the apartment building seemed strange to them even before the crime, partly because the defendant lived behind darkened windows. The house was also run down.
The 22-year-old's father said he couldn't cope with the crime at all and was working seven days a week to suppress it. His daughter once told him that the neighbor seemed “scary” to her. According to the father, the daughter wanted to get her drug problem under control through therapy. The last time he saw her was the day before the crime, when he picked her up from the psychologist. She was in a good mood.
The young woman's mother said she was still out with her on the evening of the crime. Later, her daughter sent her a photo of her cooking. The mother, crying, described how she fell asleep and only responded to the message later - but there was no reply.
If she hadn't fallen asleep, she might have been able to do something, she said. “I can’t handle that.” She couldn't imagine "living with it every day and fighting with it every day." She also doesn't understand why no one responded to her daughter's cries for help. “Could anyone in the house have prevented it?” This question concerns her family.
The mother of the 56-year-old who was killed also said she was reluctant to go into the house. But she wanted to show her son - who had drug problems - that she stood by him. Her son initially had casual contact with the defendant, for example helping him move in, but at some point her son seemed to be afraid of him. The crime was difficult for her to cope with. “I can’t get over it,” said the pensioner through tears. “It’s so terrible.”
Nine further days of hearings have been scheduled for the proceedings. The verdict could come on November 19th.
