Bekim H. (43) was sentenced to life in March 2021 for murder and rape Photo: Michael Körner
By Anne Losensky
He squats there ghostly. The hair like a curtain in front of the pale face. Bekim H. (43), the girl killer from Rummelsburg Bay, is silent.
On August 5, 2020, the Schöneberg police officer led to the naked corpse of the student Odette (15, name changed) on the Paul-und-Paula-Ufer on the Spree Bay (Friedrichshain). In March 2021 he received the maximum sentence: life for murder and rape.
But the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) overturned the verdict. New judges must now decide: jail or clinic?
The mother and sister of the murdered student were joint plaintiffs in the first trial Photo: Olaf Wagner
The German had been in a psycho-clinic for 13 years before that. For the rape of a 68-year-old woman, he was acquitted in 2001 because of incapacity due to a personality disorder, but ended up behind bars in the correctional facility. When reviewers thought he was cured, he was released on parole. His girlfriend reported him for rape, but the case was dropped. He stayed free.
people in court
As he led police officers to the student’s body, he reportedly said, “Shoot me, I’m no better than a biting dog.” He then smoked a cigarette. He had packed his things, the backpack with him. The student’s body lay under torn ferns. He later said that he was “heavily drunk”, “was on drugs” and did not want to kill the girl.
Another 13 trial days are planned. Judgment on September 29th.