German man convicted of murder Tuesday and sentenced to life in prison Kill a gas station clerk Following the controversy over face masks.
A murder in the western town of Idar-Oberstein in September 2021 shocked the country. The defendant was also found guilty of illegal possession of a weapon because he did not have a license for the gun used in the killing, German news agency DPA reported.
Authorities said the 50-year-old man told police he acted “out of anger” when he tried to buy beer at a gas station. .
At the time, Germany required masks to be worn in stores to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. coronavirus.
Police said the suspect, a German identified by local media as Mario N., left the gas station after the dispute but returned 30 minutes later to shoot a clerk in the head.
Thomas Frey/Photo League/Getty
At the start of the trial, prosecutor Nicole Frohn said Mario N. had grown increasingly angry about the measures imposed to curb the pandemic, which he viewed as a violation of his rights. .
“Knowing he couldn’t get in touch with the politician in charge, he decided to kill him (Alex W.),” she said.
He initially fled the scene, but turned himself in after police launched a massive search.
A state court in Bad Kreuznach found that the defendant’s radical right-wing stance and hostility to the state were the main motives for the killing, the DPA reported.
The defendant saw the clerk as a representative of the state and its coronavirus policy and decided to “lead by example” after insisting on mandatory masks.
Defense attorneys were seeking a manslaughter conviction in a trial that lasted six months. They argued that the suspect, who was intoxicated when the fatal shooting took place, could be held criminally responsible for his actions, according to experts.
The prosecutor had asked the court to find the accused “gravely guilty.” would have prevented. The judge did not.
Resistance to COVID-19 restrictions in Germany increased from 2020 to 2021, with thousands of people, including vaccine opponents and far-right extremists, taking to the streets to protest, Reuters reported.
Mikaela Lek, the victim’s mother, reported Reuters.
AFP contributed to this report.
