Soest 'horror house' trial: main defendant admits some attacks, blames ex-partner

Second hearing in Arnsberg

The regional court in Arnsberg held the second day of the trial on Monday, 2 November 2026, in the case of a woman who was abused for months in a terraced house in Soest, Westphalia. Four defendants stand trial: two men aged 29 and 25, and two brothers aged 16 and 17. They face charges including bodily harm, rape, coercion and unlawful deprivation of liberty for acts the indictment places in 2025. Both men are in pre-trial detention. His lawyer told the court that he in principle admits taking part in a large number of the offences.

The main defendant's account

In later statements the 29-year-old, a former nurse, shifted much of the blame to his former partner, saying she directed several incidents. He cited one from November, in which he said she had ordered him to hang the victim, half-naked, from a terrace beam by handcuffs, and that he had always done what she told him. In other cases he pointed to other participants or said he had been afraid. He described himself as having simply gone along with it while filming many of the videos. Prosecutors are investigating the former partner separately, and she was arrested only after new videos came to light. Chief public prosecutor Imke Reelsen accused him of "Rumlügerei", a German term for repeated lying, given his contradictory statements. Addressing him directly, she said the following.

“You can see that you enjoyed the mistreatment.”

The drastic details aired in court included a toilet seat the victim was made to put in her mouth, which he called brand new. Reelsen said the evidence clearly shows she was forced to eat faeces, and added that he admits only what can be proven against him. No remorse was visible in court.

New videos and a second indictment

Investigators received a storage medium with extensive video footage only shortly before the hearing. The recordings show 18 further acts, in which other people took part who have not yet been charged. The prosecution plans a further indictment against the 29-year-old, and his case is expected to be separated from the current proceedings, according to presiding judge Marc Gährken. The new videos appear to show that only one of the two brothers took part, so the prosecution no longer considers the charges against the 17-year-old justified. The judge told the court that new evidence in the 17-year-old's favour emerged in a non-public legal discussion among all parties. In that discussion, the lawyer for the 25-year-old also announced a confession.

The victim and the hearing ahead

Both minors made statements on the allegations, but the public was excluded for youth protection and the sources do not say what they said. The victim, a 33-year-old woman, is described in the indictment as homeless and as having repeatedly been lured to the defendant's terraced house. She was freed in early November after a neighbour alerted police, when she was nearly naked and chained to a terrace beam in severe cold. Her evidence is to be heard by video link next week because of her illness, the lawyer for the joint plaintiff said, and lawyers and judges agreed.