Potsdam life sentence for murder; Berlin courts order preventive detention for two men

A life sentence in Potsdam

The Potsdam regional court sentenced a 52-year-old man from Michendorf to life imprisonment for murdering his 92-year-old father-in-law, a court spokeswoman said. The judges also found him guilty of abusing dependent persons, dangerous bodily harm and unlawful deprivation of liberty. The court is convinced he also mistreated his dementia-stricken wife, with whom he lived in a house in Wilhelmshorst in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district. Prosecutors accused him of beating, kicking and degrading both relatives, who depended on him for their daily needs, and of providing no adequate care. According to the indictment, the 92-year-old died in January 2026 with multiple injuries. At the start of the trial in September the defendant strongly rejected the allegations, saying he had treated his father-in-law lovingly and respectfully and admitting only verbal disputes. The verdict came earlier than the court had planned, and it is not yet final.

Preventive detention for a 39-year-old in Berlin

The Berlin regional court sentenced a 39-year-old man to five years in prison for dangerous bodily harm over a knife attack on his former partner in Lankwitz on 23 November 2025. Investigators say he drew the knife after both had got off a bus on her way to work. The woman, whom he allegedly met in 2024, suffered a potentially life-threatening injury affecting her chest muscle, pericardium and lung. Because he then helped her stop the bleeding, he was not charged with attempted murder. At the time of the attack he was on leave from prison, having almost completed a sentence of five years and nine months for rape and assault. He failed to return to the Tegel prison and was caught after a week on the run in an allotment colony. The court also ordered preventive detention, finding a risk that he would commit further serious crimes. His defence opposed this and said he wants to enter therapy, and the verdict is not final.

Twelve years for drugging and raping women

On 28 October the Berlin regional court sentenced a 69-year-old trained electrician to twelve years in prison followed by preventive detention. He was convicted of rape in 22 cases, dangerous bodily harm and violating intimate privacy through image recordings. The court found that he drugged 14 women with sedatives in their drinks during meetings at his flat in Berlin-Lichtenberg, then raped them and filmed the acts. The judges concluded he deliberately sought out victims and exploited the trust of women who wanted closeness and a relationship, meeting them through online dating platforms in Berlin and Brandenburg. Many of the victims learned what had been done to them only during the investigation. He has confessed but has filed an appeal against the judgment, a court spokeswoman said, and he must pay several victims compensation of tens of thousands of euros. The current trial covers 14 women who were 50 to 60 years old at the time, while further suspected offences against 44 women between 2016 and 2022 are still being investigated. He has been in pre-trial detention since March.

Nine proceedings ahead in Berlin

The Berlin regional court has scheduled nine so-called Sicherungsverfahren, proceedings on secure detention, for the week of 9 November 2026. They target suspected violent offenders who allegedly attacked while judged not criminally responsible, and prosecutors seek their placement in a forensic psychiatric hospital. One case involves a 46-year-old woman accused of two shoplifting incidents in January and August 2025, after which she allegedly attacked witnesses and police officers. In October 2025 she is alleged to have torn glasses off two passengers at Berlin Hauptbahnhof, and on an escalator she allegedly kicked a woman, who fell several steps and was injured. Another case involves a 20-year-old man accused of injuring a man in Kreuzberg in June 2025 during a dispute over begging, and of attacking a male nurse at the Urban hospital. Prosecutors also cite pepper spray used on two men in a Munich U-Bahn dispute in October 2025, and a knife found on him during a shoplifting arrest in Neukölln in May 2026. Nine days later he allegedly hit a cyclist with a key ring while trying to take the man's phone. Prosecutors say the 20-year-old has a mental illness and acted while not criminally responsible as a young adult.