Criminal case Niklas P.

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In the criminal case Niklas P. , the 17-year-old student Niklas P. (* 23 September 1998 - 12 May 2016 ) from Bad Breisig in Rhineland-Palatinate was on his way home from a concert in Bad Godesberg in North Rhine-Westphalia in May 2016 (District of Bonn ) attacked and brutally beaten so that he succumbed to his injuries a week later.

Sequence of events

Niklas P. attended a concert by Rhein in Flammen on May 6, 2016 . When he was on his way home with a 17-year-old friend and an 18-year-old friend, he was attacked by three men in Bad Godesberg near the Rheinallee stop. The men spoke to him and his friend, then began to beat and kick him. Several kicks hit his head. His friends were also attacked when they came to his aid, but were only slightly injured. Only when more people came to the rescue did the attackers let go of their victims. Niklas P. lost consciousness in the attack. He was initially able to be reanimated by an emergency doctor , but did not recover and died on May 12 in the Bonn University Clinic.

Investigations

The police initiated an intensive manhunt after the fact and looked for witnesses with a leaflet campaign in Bad Godesberg. The public prosecutor offered a reward of 3,000 euros for catching the perpetrators. Statements indicated that the three attackers had a migration background . Several witnesses stated that two of the attackers were brown-skinned, but that all three spoke German without an accent . The wanted poster was also distributed in Arabic and Turkish. According to information from Focus , the investigation of the crime scene went wrong: the police only cordoned off the crime scene six hours after the crime and began securing evidence . A senior investigator complained that no more clues were found. The police denied the allegations.

Alleged main culprit

A few days later, the then 20-year-old Walid S. was arrested, who had already attracted attention several times for violent crimes. The suspect denied the act, but became involved in contradictions. A witness clearly identified him as the perpetrator. The reconstruction of the course of the crime showed that Niklas P. from the group of attackers had initially been verbally provoked. After a brief argument, the main culprit knocked him to the ground with one blow on the temple, where he lay motionless. His friends were beaten by one of the other perpetrators when they came to his aid. Then the main culprit returned and kicked Niklas P. in the head with full force.

In Walid S.'s apartment, investigators found a jacket with traces of blood from the victim. S. stated that he only borrowed the jacket. The owner of the jacket, who was in custody for another offense, stated that he had loaned the jacket, but not to S., but to another friend. He was questioned by the police, but then released.

In August 2016, a medical report revealed that the blood vessels in the victim's brain were “previously damaged”. The cause of death was the rupture of a vein in the brain as a result of a blow, which "normally would not have had any serious consequences," before the kicks on the person lying on the ground. The public prosecutor's office changed the accusation of manslaughter to bodily harm resulting in death , S. remained in custody because of the risk of repetition . However, the forensic doctor made it clear that the blow could have been fatal even without previous damage.

Second suspect

In June Roman W., another 21-year-old suspect, who had already been provisionally arrested in May but released for lack of evidence, was arrested. The homicide squad and the senior public prosecutor accused him of attacking Niklas P.'s companions and trying to "physically act" on the man who was lying motionless on the ground. The suspect was silent during the questioning. The authorities did not provide any information about his origin or other members of his group. He was also accused of being the main culprit, and a judge issued an arrest warrant for community manslaughter . He was released in July after an arrest complaint . Interrogations had shown that he had attacked Niklas P.'s companions, but in the judge's opinion, Walid S.'s actions were not to be attributed to him. This means that there is no longer an urgent suspicion of a homicide.

In September, according to the public prosecutor's office, Roman W. beat up a 29-year-old witness in the Niklas P. case together with a 21-year-old friend in order to get him to revise his incriminating testimony against him. According to investigations, he hit and kicked the head and body of the witness who suffered bruises and abrasions on the head and in the back and kidney area for minutes. He was then returned to custody because of the risk of blackout . In February, Roman W. managed to threaten another witness despite his imprisonment. The witness was driven to the trial in Bonn in the same van as Roman W. from the Cologne prison.

Roman W. was released in March after all witnesses had been heard. He was later given a total of 15 months probation for participating in a brawl, attempted assault, and dangerous physical harm.

process

In October, W. was against Walid S. and Roman indictment charged. Niklas' mother Dénise P. and Katinka F., one of his companions on the night of the crime, appeared as joint plaintiffs . S. was charged with bodily harm resulting in death in unity with involvement in a brawl that resulted in the death of a person. He was also accused of further dangerous bodily harm because a week before the crime he had inflicted a laceration and a concussion on a youth at the train station with a bottle. W. was charged with dangerous bodily harm, assault and involvement in a brawl that resulted in the death of a person. His defense attorney said that W. regretted beating the witness and announced that W. would remain silent as the trial progressed.

A witness stated that he recognized Walid S. as the perpetrator. The 20-year-old student stated that he had heard screams from a distance and then observed the course of events. Two groups faced each other and argued, it was pushed and jostled. S. hit Niklas in the head with full force, whereupon he fell to the ground. Then S. kicked him in the head, "stretching his leg wide, goalkeeper-like, and then pulling it through." When asked by the defense attorney, the witness said he recognized the defendant's eyebrows, facial structure and hairstyle, but only 60 percent of the time to be sure.

Katinka F. and Hiewan B., who were on the way home with Niklas P. on the night of the crime, also incriminated the accused heavily. B. was sure to recognize both perpetrators. S.'s defense lawyer doubted the statement and again denied that his client was guilty. F. declared that he could hardly remember the brawl because of lack of memory and that he was unable to describe the main defendant. However, she clearly recognizes the defendant W., who hit her on the temple with his fist .

Walid S.'s former girlfriend, who was in a relationship with him at the time of the crime, confirmed that both of them had initially been together in the spa park on the night of the crime. S. then went to a gas station to get new drinks. She tried unsuccessfully to call him on her cell phone until he came back an hour and a half later with a bottle. It was only days later that she found out about the fight at the train station, which is only a few meters from the park. Soon afterwards, acquaintances asked her whether S. could not be the perpetrator. She thought, "it must have something to do with it". S. had fought many times in her presence, she did not remember every single fight. She confirmed that he had stepped in and that a small cause was enough for him to strike.

In the further course of the process, other people were named as possible perpetrators by witnesses, including the owner of the jacket that was found on Walid S. Due to unclear and contradicting witness statements, the public prosecutor's office also finally demanded the acquittal of Walid S., whose guilt there were considerable doubts and who himself could not be proven to have been at the crime scene. On May 3, 2017, S. was acquitted of the charge.

The public prosecutor's office announced that it would evaluate files and the entire main hearing with a view to new investigative approaches. You assume that many witnesses would have remained silent in the process, although they would know the perpetrator. Only when you manage to "somehow break through this phalanx of lies and silence" can you get ahead.

Further investigation

In spring 2018 Roman W., convicted as an accomplice, incriminated the acquitted Walid S. with a statement that only he and S. were involved in the confrontation that led to the death of Niklas P., and that it was S. who hit and kicked the victim in the head. W. could no longer refuse to testify after his own judgment had become final. After the crime, he and other people had been seen near the crime scene, including his friend Hakim D., who was now considered a suspect, who had often attracted attention through violent acts and was very similar to Walid S. Walid S.'s lawyer rejected the allegations and saw them as an attempt to protect D..

The acquitted Walid S. was sentenced to a fine in another case by the Siegburg District Court in 2018 for bodily harm. In 2019, he was charged again with attempted manslaughter, dangerous physical harm, assault on police officers, resistance, physical harm and insult, some of which he admitted. The Bonn district court sentenced him to six years imprisonment for attempted manslaughter and dangerous bodily harm, among other things. It was considered proven that Walid S. had kicked a defenseless victim lying on the ground twice in the head, which suffered a concussion , a double fracture of the upper jaw and a fracture of the cheekbone . He probably did not intend the death of the victim, but accepted it approvingly .

Reactions

population

After assaults and brutal attacks in Bad Godesberg had already increased massively in the preceding months, the population of the district reacted very affected to the attack on Niklas P. The Godesberg pastor Wolfgang Picken set up a cross near the crime scene, and citizens brought flowers and candles. Picken explained that the incident was the tip of a long escalation of violence in Bad Godesberg and a turning point, nothing is as before. Action must now be taken, otherwise there will be considerable protests and possibly also radicalization.

A few hours after Niklas P.'s death, his mother pecked at the crime scene. There she received encouragement from, among other things, a woman who had just fetched her son from the clinic after he had been beaten up six months ago, another mother whose son had been beaten nearby, and a father who was beaten by one Reported knife attack on his son. A group of Muslim youths condoled their mother at the crime scene, laid down white roses and prayed. Since it was suspected that some of these acts had been committed by young men with a migrant background, right-wing groups of around 50 participants demonstrated near the crime scene. About 400 people came to a counter-demonstration, which was supported by several parties, churches and unions.

Around 700 mourners took part in the public funeral service and funeral, including Bonn’s Lord Mayor Ashok-Alexander Sridharan (CDU) and Cologne Auxiliary Bishop Ansgar Puff . The Bonn rapper Djaspora performed a specially composed song, the video of which had been accessed over 90,000 times by the day of the funeral. Pastor Picken, who had known Niklas P. and his family for a long time, praised him as a lovable and serious young person with a pronounced sense of justice and called for him to refrain from any form of generalization or discrimination when looking for the cause.

Politics and media

Sridharan, Bonn police chief Ursula Brohl-Sowa and experts from the police, the city, churches and youth organizations decided at a “round table against violence” to increase the police presence, measures to improve visibility of the crime scene area and a program to prevent violence. In a "current quarter of an hour" of the interior committee in the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament, the CDU interior expert Gregor Golland stated that the tragic death of Niklas P. was the sad climax of a slippage of a district that has been noticeable for a long time. While his party demanded a change in the law for more police video surveillance, Interior Minister Ralf Jäger (SPD) warned against using the death of Niklas P. politically.

The journalist Bettina Röhl criticized "the active silence of the country, the government, the media and society" on the question of whether the attack on Niklas P. could have originated from organized structures, after there are repeatedly comparable cases across Germany . She drew parallels with the Rotherham abuse scandal . It was unusual to learn that at least two of the perpetrators spoke German without an accent, but not to find out what they had said and whether this might suggest racist motives.

When the report on the victim's previous damage and the subsequent withdrawal of the homicide allegation became known, the journalist and lawyer Reinhard Müller drew parallels with the Dominik Brunner case and pointed out that in this and other similar cases, convictions for murder had been passed despite previous damage . The change in the charge also caused outrage and horror in the victim's family and in public.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jürgen Kleikamp: Adolescent beaten to death in Bonn , WDR, May 13, 2016.
  2. ^ Attack in Bonn: Niklas P. injured life-threateningly by Schläger-Trio - police distribute leaflets , Focus, May 12, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b c Reiner Burger : Niklas P case: arrest warrant issued for manslaughter , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, May 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ Axel Spilcker: Manslaughter Niklas P .: Forensics came six hours too late , Focus, July 16, 2016.
  5. ↑ Dieter Brockschnieder: Niklas P. case in Bad Godesberg: Police reject allegations of the investigation failure , Rhein-Sieg-Anzeiger, July 18, 2016.
  6. ^ Case of Niklas P .: Suspect was involved in fights shortly before the crime , Spiegel online, June 1, 2016.
  7. ↑ Christoph Hensgen: Niklas case: Bonn judge postpones detention test , WDR, June 17, 2016.
  8. ^ Christian Parth: After the death of Niklas Hundertschaft and Hundestaffel in Bonn-Bad Godesberg , Rhein-Sieg-Anzeiger, June 25, 2016.
  9. ^ Case of Niklas P. The first blow was already too much , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ a b Kristian Frigelj: Niklas P. case from Bonn - Bad Godesberg: "You are reassured when it was only half a murder" , N24, August 22, 2016.
  11. ↑ a b Ulrike Schödel: Also indicted in the Niklas P. case, six years imprisonment for Walid S. from Bonn called for , Rhein-Sieg-Anzeiger, July 18, 2019.
  12. ^ Case of Niklas P. Suspect remains in custody - new findings , Rhein-Sieg-Anzeiger, June 20, 2016.
  13. ↑ 21-year-old suspect in the Niklas P. case released again , Rhein-Sieg-Anzeiger, July 8, 2016.
  14. ↑ Axel Spilcker: Richter releases suspects in the Niklas P. case , Focus, July 8, 2016.
  15. ^ Rita Klein: Case Niklas P .: Second suspect behind bars again , General-Anzeiger, September 19, 2016.
  16. ^ A b Rita Klein: charges brought against Walid S. and Roman W. , General-Anzeiger, October 20, 2016.
  17. ↑ Death of Niklas P .: Suspect allegedly beat up witnesses , Rheinische Post, September 19, 2016.
  18. ^ Niklas trial: For this reason, Roman W. was able to threaten another witness , Express, February 9, 2017.
  19. ^ Defendant Roman W. is at large again , General-Anzeiger Boon, March 29, 2017.
  20. ↑ a b Lisa Inhoffen: Investigations into the Niklas Pöhler case continue , General-Anzeiger, May 3, 2018.
  21. ↑ a b Kristian Frigelj: The defendant Walid S. looks directly into the cameras , Welt N24, January 20, 2017.
  22. ↑ a b Michaela Schwinn: Witnesses incriminate the accused , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, February 15, 2017.
  23. ↑ Kristian Frigelj: "Watch out, there are some who want to hit" , Welt N24, January 27, 2017.
  24. ↑ Katja Heins: "The perpetrator pulled his leg far, goalkeeper-like" , Welt N24, February 8, 2017.
  25. ↑ Michaela Schwinn: "It must have something to do with it" , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, March 3, 2017.
  26. ↑ Acquittal - mother at the "limit of the bearable" . Welt online, May 3, 2017
  27. ↑ "Lies and Silence" Public Prosecutor's Office seeks a new approach in the Niklas P. case , Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, May 4, 2017.
  28. ↑ Rita Klein: New testimony on the Niklas case incriminates Walid S. , General-Anzeiger, May 9, 2018.
  29. ↑ Martin Boldt: Again in court: 23-year-old suspect in the Niklas P. beats again , Rhein-Zeitung, October 11, 2018.
  30. ^ Trial in Bonn: Walid S. admits attack on 26-year-olds - ten years imprisonment threatens , Rhein-Sieg-Anzeiger, July 11, 2019.
  31. ↑ Christian Parth: Judgment against Walid S. "Whoever acts like this knows what he can do" , Spiegel online, July 25, 2019.
  32. ↑ Reiner Burger: Bad Godesberg: Violence is in the air , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 4, 2016.
  33. ↑ Claudia Hauser: Fatal beating attack in Bad Godesberg: Rights hijack funeral service for Niklas P. , Spiegel online, May 14, 2016.
  34. ^ Funeral service for Niklas P. from Bad Breisig: "How is it possible?, SWR, May 21, 2016.
  35. ↑ Katja Heins: Funeral for Niklas P .: "Mama, I'm just happy" , Die Welt, May 21, 2016.
  36. ↑ Dieter Brockschnieder: Beat death of Niklas P. More police presence and redesign of the square in Bonn , Rhein-Sieg-Anzeiger, May 30, 2016.
  37. ↑ Bernd Eyermann: Von Grünberg: Dechant Picken stirs up fears , General-Anzeiger, June 2, 2016.
  38. ↑ Bettina Röhl: Violent death of Niklas P.: Grief comes second , Tichy's insight , June 10, 2016.
  39. ↑ Reinhard Müller: Case Niklas P .: The resolution to kill is enough , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 22, 2016.
  40. ↑ Rita Klein, Ayla Jacob: Fatal attack on Niklas P .: Walid S. remains behind bars , General-Anzeiger, August 22, 2016.