Child murder in Emden 2012

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The child murder in Emden 2012 is a criminal case that occurred on March 24, 2012 in Emden . An eleven-year-old girl was violently killed in a parking garage in the city center . After an innocent bystander was arrested, there were calls for lynching and rioting. The police admitted several missed investigations. The perpetrator, an 18 year old, was arrested on March 31, 2012. He confessed to the crime a day later and was convicted of murder in November 2012. Criminal proceedings were also taken against the ringleaders of the lynch mob.

Disappearance and death of the girl

The eleven-year-old girl Lena left home on March 24, 2012 at around 5 p.m. together with a friend of the same age. Both wanted to feed ducks at the Emden ramparts . At the car park at the water tower , the boy lost sight of the girl. He then returned home and the girl's parents were notified. Her search led her to the parking garage where the girl's bike was parked. A security guard discovered the missing child in the parking garage at around 7 p.m., whereupon the police and emergency services were notified. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful and the 11-year-old was found dead in the hospital.

Investigations

Prosecutors and police confirmed that the girl had been killed. There was a first press release about the crime on the afternoon of March 25th. Traces in the parking garage and the result of the autopsy indicated a violent crime , the police said. The police set up the special commission “parking garage” with 40 officers . About two dozen officers searched all three floors of the parking garage for traces and a possible murder weapon . The investigators also evaluated the surveillance cameras . Police confirmed at a press conference that the act had a "sexual background" and was searching after that date for a dark-clad young man.

On the evening of March 26th, around 1,500 people gathered at the main train station in Emden for a memorial event and went together to the car park at the water tower.

On March 25, the police released clips of video footage from the parking garage. The city of Emden offered a reward of 10,000 euros for information about the arrest of the perpetrator. On March 27, a 17-year-old man was arrested and on March 28, an arrest warrant was issued on suspicion of murder.

The police released this suspect on March 30th after he was ruled out as a perpetrator. DNA traces from the crime scene in the parking garage brought the investigators to another track. They arrested an 18-year-old man on March 31. A saliva sample was taken and sent to the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office in Hanover for examination .

On the morning of April 1st, the suspect was issued an arrest warrant. In a press conference in the afternoon, the investigators announced that the 18-year-old had confessed to the killing of the 11-year-old girl. The DNA comparison corroborated the urgent suspicion . In addition, the DNA traces led to the urgent suspicion that he had also committed the sexual assault on a jogger in November 2011 near the same parking garage.

On April 4, 2012, Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Uwe Schünemann admitted serious errors in the police investigation of the case. The perpetrator had already reported himself to the Emden police in November 2011, accompanied by a psychologist, because of the possession of child pornographic material . He had previously been treated in a psychiatric hospital for two months after admitting that he had photographed a seven-year-old girl naked. According to Schünemann, "identification measures " such as taking fingerprints and a saliva sample have not taken place. A judicial search of the house was also missed. The Aurich public prosecutor's office carried out criminal investigations against two officers from the Aurich / Wittmund police station , who were later reinstated. Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against several police officers .

Calls for lynching and expressions of solidarity

The arrest of the 17-year-old suspect at first did not go unnoticed in the Emden district concerned. Reports of his arrest were spread on Facebook . On the evening of March 26th, an 18-year-old East Frisian published a call to gather in front of the Emden police station. Around 45 to 50 mostly young people responded to this call. In front of the guard they chanted slogans that, according to the police, could only be understood as a call to lynch the arrested person. The mob broke up during the night. The 18-year-old was charged with his appeal and sentenced at the end of May 2012 to a two-week arrest sentence and a warning under juvenile law.

After the innocence of the initially suspect had been established, four Emden women organized a spontaneous rally at the main station, in which 200 people took part. The demonstration was intended to show solidarity with the 17-year-old who had left the city at the time and with his family. A 15-year-old also attended the rally, who admitted that he had been involved in false suspicions via the Internet. Also on Facebook, two Emden women called for solidarity with the wrongly suspected. More than 7,300 users supported the corresponding entry in a short time. Right-wing extremists use the anger and grief associated with child killings to promote political goals such as the death penalty . Also in the Facebook group “Book of condolence for the little angel from Emden” some “questionable slogans” had been spread at times; they were soon deleted by an administrator. A few days before the events in Emden, several right-wing extremists, who had also met via network community , tried to break into the apartment of a man in Nordenham who is said to have sexually abused children.

Proceedings against police officers

The Aurich public prosecutor's office announced on April 4, 2012 that they were investigating two officers from the local police station on account of initial suspicions of obstruction. There are also disciplinary proceedings against these two and other officials.

The 18-year-old, who admitted the act, reported himself to the Emden police in November for possession of child pornographic material. Shortly before, he had been in an adolescent psychiatric ward for two months due to his pedophile sexual orientation . A house search ordered on the basis of the voluntary disclosure never came about. The internal police investigators are investigating why the judicial search warrant of December 30, 2011 was not implemented.

Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Uwe Schünemann (CDU) admitted serious errors in earlier investigations against the murderer. A fingerprint and a saliva sample should have been taken from the 18-year-old. One day after the voluntary disclosure, a jogger narrowly escaped being raped in the Emden Wallanlagen. The police assigned this act to the 18-year-old after the investigation of Lena’s murder using a DNA test .

In addition, the 18-year-old had admitted in his self-disclosure that he had already undressed and photographed a seven-year-old girl, a friend of his sister, in 2010. The act happened in the parents' house of the then not yet adult. His mother caught him doing it and informed the youth welfare office ; but this did not involve the police.

The Aurich public prosecutor closed the investigation against the two officials in September 2012 due to a lack of sufficient suspicion. At the same time, the disciplinary investigations against the two officers and six other officers were resumed.

Trial and conviction of the perpetrator

The trial against the 18-year-old perpetrator, who confessed to the murder, began on August 20, 2012 in the youth chamber of the Aurich Regional Court . In addition to the sexual abuse and murder of the girl, he also had to answer for the attempted rape of the jogger in November 2011. The girl's mother and brother and the jogger appeared as co-plaintiffs in the trial. The procedure took place in camera.

On November 7, 2012, the accused was found guilty of the murder. Convicted of a personality disorder and limited culpability under juvenile law, she was placed in a psychiatric clinic for an indefinite period. The perpetrator continues to pose a latent danger, but at the same time he is hardly suitable for therapy. He was also sentenced to pay nearly € 85,000 in damages to the victim's relatives. In connection with the assault on the jogger, the defendant was also found guilty of dangerous physical harm.

literature

The Lena case is the starting point for the 2017 novel Beat the Pig Dead! by Roland Siegloff, who deals in fictional form with the role of the media and the influence of social networks.

In 2013, the TV drama Nothing Like Before was released , based on the false prejudice in the Lena case.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Murder of Lena: Police check the suspect's surroundings. Augsburger Allgemeine, April 5, 2012, accessed April 6, 2012 .
  2. ↑ a b Murder of eleven-year-old: police are looking for sex offenders. In: Focus Online. March 26, 2012, Retrieved April 5, 2012 .
  3. ↑ Killed girl in Emden: Judge issues arrest warrant for 17-year-olds. In: Spiegel Online. March 28, 2012, Retrieved April 5, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Emder Murder Case: Chronology of Events ( Memento from March 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ).
  5. ↑ Killer of 11-year-old Lena has to go to psychiatry. Zeit Online , November 7, 2012, accessed November 7, 2012 .
  6. ^ Case Lena: Interior Minister admits serious investigative errors by the police. Financial Times Deutschland, April 4, 2012, archived from the original on April 6, 2012 ; Retrieved April 4, 2012 .
  7. ^ Case Lena: Disciplinary proceedings in Osnabrück ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
  8. ↑ Emden: Who called for lynching? In: Welt Online. April 3, 2012, Retrieved April 4, 2012 .
  9. ↑ Lynch call brings 18-year-old permanent arrest. Emden murder case Lena. Die Welt, May 30, 2012, accessed November 8, 2012 .
  10. ↑ Heiko Müller: False suspicion: Emden apologizes. Ostfriesen-Zeitung, April 4, 2012, accessed on April 5, 2012 .
  11. ↑ Heiko Müller: Wave of solidarity with the innocent. Ostfriesen-Zeitung, April 3, 2012, accessed on April 5, 2012 .
  12. ↑ Kersten Mügge and Stefan Schölermann: Right-wing extremists are calling for the death penalty online . In: NDR Info . April 5, 2012, Retrieved April 5, 2012 .
  13. ↑ Vigilante justice against alleged child molesters? ( Memento from October 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ Emden: proceedings against police officers initiated. RP ONLINE, April 5, 2012, accessed November 7, 2012 .
  15. ↑ Dirk Fisser: No suspicion. Murder case Lena: investigations against police officers stopped. In: New Osnabrück Newspaper. September 6, 2012, accessed September 29, 2012 .
  16. ↑ Trial in the murder case Lena from Emden. Judge excludes the public from the proceedings. In: SZ. August 20, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012 .
  17. ^ Lena murder case: perpetrator is a danger to the general public. Placement in a psychiatric clinic arranged. Die Welt, November 7, 2012, accessed November 7, 2012 .
  18. ↑ Roland Siegloff: Kill the pig! Böhland & Schremmer Verlag 2017, ISBN 978-3-943622-19-5 , accessed on March 26, 2017 .