Double murder in Herne 2017

In the double murder in Herne in 2017 , a nine-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man from Herne were murdered on March 6 and 7, 2017 . The search for the perpetrator met with nationwide public interest and international reports were also made outside of German-speaking countries. The perpetrator Marcel H. was arrested by the police on the evening of March 9, 2017 and sentenced to life imprisonment on January 31, 2018.

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The nine-year-old Jaden F. disappeared on the evening of March 6, 2017. The suspect for killing the boy was Marcel H., a 19-year-old from Herne who lived in a neighboring house. He had asked the family if the boy could come over to hold a ladder. Pictures of the crime sent via WhatsApp were posted on the Internet shortly afterwards by an acquaintance of the suspect on 4chan . The acquaintance was asked by other users to contact the police, whereupon he switched the police on.

The police came to the 19-year-old's house on Fleithestrasse in the district of Unser Fritz in Herne, formerly Wanne-Eickel , at around 8:30 p.m. on March 6th . At this point the foster father of the missing boy and one of his two sons had entered the house through the open patio door and found the boy in the basement. The boy had a variety of knife wounds; the resuscitation attempts by the stepfather were unsuccessful.

After Marcel H.'s arrest, a male corpse was discovered in a burning apartment on Sedanstrasse in Herne. It was Christopher W., a 22-year-old friend of H. This body was also severely stabbed.

Manhunt

The suspect was not in the house and has been wanted ever since. In Herne the police increased their presence in schools; the recommendation was also given not to let children play outside.

On the evening of March 7, 2017, 40 police vehicles with around 100 police officers drove to the Bandidos clubhouse in Herne on suspicion of “ vigilante justice ”. The stepfather of the killed boy was close to the rocker group Bandidos, which is said to have announced that they wanted to look out for the perpetrator. A meeting of the rockers was suspected in the clubhouse, but only ten people were found, according to the Bochum police . The press spokesman for the Recklinghausen chapter later stated that only the police had the resources to catch the perpetrator.

In Wetter (Ruhr) , about 25 kilometers southeast of Herne, the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium Wetter was cordoned off and searched for several hours on March 8, 2017 . Looking for the perpetrator, 60 police officers searched the Neuwerk hospital in the north of Mönchengladbach on March 9, 2017 . In order to support the manhunt, the police began distributing perpetrators on handouts from March 9, 2017. The number of reports from the population amounted to over 1400 reports on March 9, 2017.

arrest

On the evening of March 9, 2017, Marcel H. turned himself in to the police in a snack bar on Bismarckstrasse in Herne. His left hand was injured. When he was arrested, he pointed out that an apartment was burning nearby on Sedanstrasse. The fire brigade put out the fire and found the second body there.

Marcel H. confessed and described the acts to the police. One of the reasons for the act was a rejection by the Bundeswehr of an application from Marcel H. The news about a second, possibly killed person had evidently related to the acquaintance with whom he found shelter shortly after the act. The following day he killed the acquaintance after he announced that he would call in the police.

Commemoration

On March 15, more than 800 people in or at the Herz-Jesu Church in Herne took part in the memorial service for the murder victims. The church was fully occupied with more than 500 people. 300 mourners watched the celebration on the meadow in front of the church, which was broadcast via loudspeaker. A dozen members of the Bandidos were among the mourners.

Around a thousand mourners attended Jaden's funeral in the forest cemetery in Herne on March 16. Several rocker clubs, including numerous members of the Bandidos and also the Hells Angels , were among the mourners. The burial in the forest cemetery took place with a special permit from the city of Herne, as no funerals have taken place in this cemetery for years. The special permit was granted because the cemetery is close to Jaden's parents' house.

On March 23, the second victim, Christopher W., was buried in Herne. 600 mourners, including 40 members of various rocker clubs, attended the funeral.

Criminal proceedings

The main hearing against H. opened on September 8, 2017. The public prosecutor in charge was Danyal Maibaum, Bochum public prosecutor's office .

On January 31, 2018, H. was sentenced to life imprisonment for two murders under adult criminal law and the gravity of the guilt was determined. The preventive detention was reserved. A conviction under youth criminal law would have been possible because H. was not yet 21 years old at the time of the crime. Despite his youthful appearance, H.'s personality is already mature. The reviewer saw a personality with psychopathic, narcissistic and sadistic elements. During the trial, it was also revealed that H. stabbed his two victims a total of 120 times. In the process, H. did not comment on the acts.

The judgment became final after the defendant waived his right to appeal and the public prosecutor's office and accessory prosecution had expired .