76-year-old on trial in Cologne over fatal stabbing of husband with dementia — prosecution says murder, she says accident
A 76-year-old woman went on trial in Cologne on Friday, accused of fatally stabbing her 83-year-old husband who suffered from dementia. While prosecutors describe a violent argument and a deliberate stabbing, the defence tells of a tragic kitchen accident.
Prosecution’s version
The Cologne Public Prosecutor’s Office charges that the 46-year marriage had deteriorated under the strain of the husband’s dementia.
The indictment alleges that disputes were frequent, with the accused consistently loud and aggressive while the husband remained largely passive.The couple’s life together in recent years was marked in particular by the victim’s dementia.
On the day of the incident, witnesses heard the defendant shout twice:
Immediately afterwards, according to the prosecution, she picked up a sharp-edged object and stabbed her husband in the chest. She then called emergency services, but the 83-year-old died at the scene despite resuscitation attempts.I’ll stab you!
Defendant’s account
Through her lawyer, the 76-year-old acknowledged that she was
of her husband but called the event acausally responsible for the death
. She explained that she was preparing food and had a knife in her hand when her husband stood up without using his walker. Fearing he would fall, she tried to support him, still holding the knife.tragic accident
Afterwards she noticed a little blood on the tip of the blade and wiped it off, a detail she could no longer explain.The knife must have penetrated him in the process.
Trial and background
The trial opened on Friday at the Cologne regional court. Three further hearing days are scheduled, and a verdict is expected in early July. The defendant has been in pre-trial detention since January and is said to be physically impaired following a heart attack and a previous cancer illness.
