By Michael Sauerbier
Igor P. (56) is said to have paid a killer for the murder of the CDU politician. However, the defendant denies this.
A killer killed Ute P. (57) on a dirt road near Premnitz (Havelland) with three shots. Almost five years later, the man who is said to have ordered the contract killing – and then cashed in – is on trial.
Tall, slim, jeans and sweater, friendly, open face. In handcuffs, Igor P. (56) is led to the dock of the Potsdam district court on Monday. The prosecutor accused the former Soviet soldier of inciting murder. Out of greed! “To get money from two life insurance policies.”
The highly indebted Ute P. had taken out the policies for 100,000 and 60,000 euros in favor of the truck driver. As collateral for joint real estate transactions. Igor P. had built two houses on the land of the former CDU municipal councilor in Biederitz near Magdeburg.
When it came to a foreclosure auction, he got nothing. The truck driver lost his houses and had to move out. Only after Ute’s violent death did Igor P’s cash register ring. “One of the two life insurance policies was paid out,” says his defense attorney. That was the motive for the murder, prosecutors believe.
The crime scene on the evening of February 10, 2018: Ute P. died after three shots in her car Photo: Julian Stahle
Initially, the father of four himself was suspected of murder. But Igor P. has an alibi: at the time of the crime, the evening of February 10, 2018, he was in the Elbe shopping center near Magdeburg. Now the public prosecutor is certain: at the end of 2017 he is said to have hired an unknown killer.
“I did not place an order,” said Igor P. on Monday, “the stranger is just as unknown to me as it is to the court.” He first had a friendly relationship with Ute P., then a business relationship. After the auction of her Gänsekrug restaurant, she wanted to start a new life in Mögelin near Premnitz and worked in a Rathenow bakery.
Six police officers described on Monday how they found Ute P.’s body in her car. With bullet holes in the back and upper body, from a “Ceska” pistol. The court plans to hear 30 more witnesses by January. If they substantiate the accusation, Igor P. faces life imprisonment.