Dieter Riechmann

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Dieter Riechmann (born May 17, 1944 in Lemgo ) is a German citizen who was indicted in the USA for the murder of his partner Kersten Kischnick in 1987 and sentenced to death. Riechmann is often referred to as a hamburger in the media ; in Germany he lived with his girlfriend in Rheinfelden in Baden .

Murder of Kersten Kischnick

Kersten Kischnick worked as a prostitute in several European countries. It is now believed that Dieter Riechmann could have been her pimp . They were a couple for thirteen years until they vacationed together in Florida in 1987 .

On October 25, 1987, Kischnick was killed in the passenger seat of Riechmann's rental car in Miami by a shot in the head . After that, Riechmann, allegedly looking for help, drove around aimlessly in Miami until he met a police patrol. He then stated that while they were asking passers-by for directions, a black-skinned stranger approached them and shot Kischnick.

Presumed motive and process

In the course of the investigation, a life insurance policy on Kersten Kischnick valued at over $ 961,000 was discovered. The rental car was also paid for using Riechmann's credit card, which included passenger insurance. In the event of Kischnick's accidental death, the sum of the life insurance would have been paid out to Riechmann. These insurances were suspected as the motive for the crime.

Possible course of events

The police said they had found a blood-smeared flashlight in the trunk of the rental car. It is officially assumed that Dieter Riechmann took the flashlight in a remote place, got out of the car, went to the passenger side, blinded Kersten Kischnick with the lamp and then shot him. The police found traces of smoke from Riechmann on both hands , but the flashlight found was not used as evidence in the trial. Pictures of the trunk of the rental car disappeared just days before the start of the trial.

Judgment and commutation

Riechmann was sentenced to death on November 4, 1988 , but this judgment was initially suspended in 1996 due to procedural errors in the deliberations on the sentence. However, the death sentence was later reconfirmed. In 2010 the death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment with no prospect of parole.

TV documentary

The TV documentary Death Penalty for a Lie , produced in 2004, shows how journalist Peter F. Müller reopened the case from 1997 onwards and encountered perjury and manipulation of the US judiciary, which led to the trial being renegotiated. The documentation derives the theory that it was not Riechmann but a criminal from the drug milieu who could have committed the murder, although Riechmann may have gotten entangled in contradictions during the interrogation because he wanted to conceal a larger drug deal, and this alleged lie presumably to this day (quote from the film: "Dieter Riechmann is still waiting on death row. Not because he is a murderer. But because he lied. Because everyone involved lied. Again and again.").

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.usinq.com/records/1ccd992
  2. ^ A b German Dieter Riechmann is allowed to leave death row in: Augsburger Allgemeine , May 14, 2010
  3. ↑ Carsten Holm: CRIME: After the cocktails came death . In: Der Spiegel . No. 6 , 2006 ( online - February 6, 2006 ).
  4. ↑ http://www.abendblatt.de/archiv/1988/article203761219/Rettet-ihn-ein-Form Fehler-vor-der-Hinrichtung.html# modal
  5. ↑ a b c Dieter Riechmann at Florida Death Row Inmates
  6. ^ Badische Zeitung, No execution: US court pardons murderer from Rheinfelden, May 14, 2010 [1]
  7. ↑ German death prisoner in USA escapes execution [2]
  8. ↑ Documentation available on YouTube, accessed on August 19, 2015
  9. ↑ Description of the contents of the TV documentary "Death Penalty for a Lie" on TV feature film
personal data
SURNAME Riechmann, Dieter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German citizen, imprisoned for murder in the USA
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Lemgo