Family drama in gunzenhausen in central franconia – accused father remains silent: after the family drama in gunzenhausen in central franconia with four deaths, the accused father does not admit to the crime. The 31-year-old made no statements during his questioning at the hospital on thursday, said senior public prosecutor michael schrotberger.
At the same time, the warrant of arrest for four counts of murder was issued to him. The ansbach district court had already issued this the day before. As soon as the man's health permits, he will be taken into custody, schrotberger said.
The 31-year-old had killed his wife, who was two years younger, his three-year-old daughter and his seven- and nine-year-old sons with a knife on tuesday morning. "The children were probably surprised in their sleep", chief public prosecutor michael schrotberger said.
Drama of gunzenhausen: father had been violent for years
The 31-year-old had acted in a planned manner and had brought the murder weapon – a butcher's knife with a 16-centimeter blade – with him. "There is no reasonable doubt at this point in time that he did it", schrotberger said. There are currently no indications that the man was mentally ill. It is a "german family with an immigrant background", who originally came from kazakhstan, said chief criminal officer hermann lennert.
Since the defendant does not come forward, the investigation is now focused on relatives, friends and colleagues. "They are now being interviewed to find out more about their motivation", explained schrotberger.
Police work at the scene of the crime – an apartment in a nine-story high-rise – will probably continue for another day or two, schrotberger said. The protestant congregation has invited people to a memorial service on thursday evening. The funeral service at the st. St. Mary's is "open to all, those wishing to mourn the woman and her three children, a spokeswoman for the ministry announced.
The horrible act of blood had a history: the worker had been violent for years and had threatened his wife and children. A criminal warrant was issued against the 31-year-old as early as 2013. Afterwards, however, the couple got along again and had another child together.
Gunzenhausen: woman and three children dead in apartment – chronology of events
Children beaten: wife wanted to separate from father
Last thursday, the 31-year-old is said to have beaten his sons again. The mother photographs the blushes on her children's cheeks and sends the pictures to her sister, who informs the police. The 29-year-old tells cops she will now break up for good. She packs her bags and moves with the children to relatives in the district of ansbach. The father gives up his keys to the house and apartment and the police issue a contact and proximity ban against him.
The police banned the 31-year-old father from contacting them
On the same evening, the police informed a women's shelter and the youth welfare office so that the 29-year-old and her children could get help. On sunday, however, the mother returned with her children to the family's apartment in gunzenhausen – without consulting the authorities. The following night around 2.00 o'clock her husband shows up in front of the house, and the woman calls the police. Officials make it clear to 31-year-old that he will be taken into custody if he doesn't comply with no-contact order.
Wife asked her brother for help
The mother no longer feels safe, so she asks her brother to come to her apartment. Only three hours later, her husband returns early monday morning. The brother sends him away with clear words – but this time no one calls the officials.
On monday, the 29-year-old has appointments with the police and the youth welfare office. On tuesday she is supposed to go to the district court of weibenburg to obtain a court-ordered contact ban. But it does not come to that.
Family lured into trap: the killer lurked in the stairwell
Again without informing the authorities, the woman, her brother and her husband agree to let the 31-year-old pick up his work clothes early tuesday morning. Your brother will bring the things down to the street as agreed and wait there. What he did not know: the 31-year-old "was in the house for a long time", as lennert says. Against 5.00 o'clock he walks in as a resident leaves the high-rise building. He waits in the stairwell until the brother has gone down and breaks into the apartment. "The entrance tower was already damaged. The castle was no longer one hundred percent safe", says lennert. Then the 31-year-old kills his entire family. "In the apartment there was a cruel picture", reports lennert. The four bodies had lain in three different rooms.
"Both hands and arms full of blood"
As the brother hoards and "as if stung by a tarantula" when he runs upstairs, he is confronted in the apartment by the 31-year-old "a butcher knife in his hand, both hands and arms full of blood". Then the 31-year-old turns around after his brother's statement and jumps from the third floor over the balcony into the depths. The 31-year-old was seriously injured, suffering a fractured pelvis and an injury to his lungs. He is currently in a medically induced coma and could therefore not be questioned so far.
Prosecutor: "absolute will to destroy"
Senior public prosecutor schrotberger speaks of homicidal manslaughter and attests to the man's "absolute will to destroy". The man had deliberately lured the brother away, he had taken off his shoes and entered the apartment on his feet so as not to wake the children. "He had a plan of action, which he carried out over a period of hours." The act itself was over in a few minutes. Previously, the man had always shown himself to be reasonable to the police. "There were no emotions to trace with him."
Lennert explains why the woman made the appointment with her husband to hand over her clothes without informing the police: "at some point, she no longer took it seriously. Her husband had eventually threatened her almost every day."
Gunzenhausen: woman and three children dead in apartment – arrest warrant issued against father.