Man on trial over New Year's Eve rocket fire that killed 88-year-old in Würzburg
At the Würzburg local court, a 42-year-old man admitted lighting the rocket but said he had seen it was damaged, while a witness says a friend of his fired it. The 88-year-old resident of the flat died of smoke inhalation.
A fire on New Year's Eve
On New Year's Eve, a rocket landed on a balcony on the first floor of a multi-family building in Würzburg's Heuchelhof district and set several objects alight. According to investigators, the smoke then spread into the flat of an 88-year-old resident with limited mobility, who was asleep when it reached her. Flames later reached the flat itself, and rescuers who searched it during the firefighting found her unconscious. She died of smoke inhalation later that night, and help came too late to save her. Around ten months later, the case reached the Würzburg local court, where it began on 14 October.
- A rocket lands on a balcony in Würzburg's Heuchelhof district and objects there catch fire
- A witness says a friend of the defendant lit the rocket and aimed it at the house
- The 88-year-old resident dies of smoke inhalation
- Trial opens at the Würzburg local court
Charges and the prosecution's account
Prosecutors have charged a 42-year-old man with negligent homicide and negligent arson, the authority said in its statement. Bayerischer Rundfunk gives his age at the time of the fire as 41. According to the prosecution, the defendant knew the wooden stick of the rocket had broken, which made the rocket's path foreseeable and avoidable. In the prosecution's account, the rocket first climbed three to four metres straight up, then changed direction and landed on the balcony, where objects caught fire. Investigators identified him from statements by residents and from an analysis of videos recorded that night. He is accused of lighting the rocket by hand with the broken stick.
The defendant's account and a conflicting witness
At the hearing the defendant admitted that he had lit the rocket, which he held in his hand. He said he was sorry and that he did not want what followed. He also claims he saw that the rocket was damaged before he fired it. A female witness who was present that evening, however, told the court that a friend of the defendant had lit the rocket shortly after midnight and aimed it deliberately at the house. A further suspect had also been named, but investigators said his involvement could not be sufficiently proven. The two accounts therefore differ on who fired the rocket.
Trial schedule
The Würzburg local court has so far set only one hearing day, and nine witnesses have been summoned for it. A court spokesperson gave that information. The case is heard by a Schöffengericht, and the hearing was scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. on 14 October. Because only one day is set, the reports do not show how many further hearings will follow. The death of the 88-year-old woman is therefore being examined in court only now, more than ten months after New Year's Eve.
