Ingolstadt court sentences man to life for murdering former wife

The Ingolstadt Regional Court has sentenced a 50-year-old man to life in prison for murdering his former wife, and found that his guilt was particularly severe, BR reported. The court said he would therefore not be released after 15 years. Prosecutors had sought the sentence, while the defence had argued for manslaughter and an eight-and-a-half-year term.

Court cites control and surveillance

The court found that the man, who is Turkish, killed his former wife and the mother of their three children for particularly base motives. The presiding judge said the defendant could not accept that she was leading an independent life without him.

The judge said a family court hearing several days before the murder was the immediate trigger. The defendant faced the possibility of prison for violating a protection order, which would have left his former wife beyond his constant control.

The court also cited years of surveillance and stalking, and the victim’s profound despair. The defendant was said to have fitted GPS trackers to her car and hidden a listening device in the living room. The woman had sought all available state assistance and obtained several protection orders. Police had also spoken with the defendant, but the judge said none of this had deterred him. The court said he knew his children might witness the killing and did not care.

Family and friends attend emotional hearing

The murder took place one evening in December 2025. The 45-year-old woman got out of her partner’s car outside her home, and the two said goodbye with a kiss. About an hour later, she was dead. The court heard that her former husband had waited for her and stabbed her repeatedly.

Frightened, the woman called her three children, who were between 17 and 23. When her two sons and daughter arrived, they tried to help; her daughter held her hand. The woman later died in hospital.

The courtroom was full for the emotional verdict, with family and friends holding photographs of the woman. Her children wore T-shirts bearing her name. Many people in the room wept as the judge delivered the decision, and there was spontaneous applause afterward.

Judge condemns defence arguments

The judge strongly criticised the defence’s closing arguments. One of the two defence lawyers had compared the case with the Nazi era. The judge said the court considered it intolerable to compare the proceedings with Nazi courts or claim the defendant was being convicted because he was a man or Turkish. The only relevant standard, he said, was the German constitution.

The judge also condemned what he described as the defence’s reversal of victim and perpetrator, including its claim that the defendant had been afraid of his wife. He called that argument morally reprehensible and said it was implausible: if the defendant had been afraid, he would not have kept staying close to her.

The defendant showed no visible emotion as the verdict was read. His lawyers said they would appeal.