On Tuesday, the dock remained empty for the time being. The 82-year-old defendant did not allow himself to be brought forward Photo: Olaf Wagner
By Anne Losensky
After 66 years together, he killed her: “We lived wonderfully together,” affirmed engineer Bernd R. (82). “A dog once brought us together, we never had a fight.”
His wife Margit (83) always swore to him: “I will always be yours!” On the morning of October 20, 2022, the man from Friedrichshain hit her temple with a hammer while she was sleeping. Due to senile dementia, he might have forgotten how faithful she had always been to him.
Then he calmly called the police: “Hello, I killed my wife.” The officers rushed to the prefabricated building on Landsberger Allee. The pensioner opened the door and had already forgotten everything: “My wife isn’t here!” The police officers: “Stop that nonsense!” Then the academic: “Oh, she’s lying there dead in bed.”
In the GDR he was a technician with the National People’s Army (NVA). The charge is murder. But he should be in a psychiatric hospital, not in prison.
Shortly after the crime, the homicide squad is on duty at the house on Landsberger Allee Photo: Spreepicture
In court, he talks about his wife as if she were still alive. According to neighbors, he is said to have often scolded and been jealous. “Did I swing the club that smashed her head? I can’t imagine that,” he says.
Bernd R. continues: “I did handicrafts with this hammer. That’s why my fingerprints are on it. I didn’t kill her, I loved her. Like me forever and ever. We met when we were 16 at a sports festival. Her dog looked so sad. That led to the dating.” Verdict April 6.