Life in prison for running over almost 90 people in a carnival parade in Germany

A 31-year-old man was sentenced today in Germany to life imprisonment for the intentional running over of 89 people who attended last year the traditional carnival Monday parade in the town of Volkmarsen, north of the central federal state of Hesse. The judges found him guilty, among other charges, of 89 assassination attempts and pointed out that it can be considered a miracle that there were no deaths among the victims. The Kassel Court also established the special gravity of the case and opened the possibility that security custody be issued for the convicted person, who after serving a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison could remain in that case imprisoned for life as he is considered a danger to society. Maurice P. intentionally launched himself with his car, a family Mercedes, against the people who on February 24, 2020 had gathered in the center of the small town to attend the traditional carnival parade.

At least 89 people were run over by the vehicle, 26 of them children, who in many cases suffered serious injuries. Other people suffered psychological damage. Investigators in the case speak of at least 150 victims in total. Throughout the trial, it was not possible to reveal the motives that led the accused to commit this crime. Maurice P. did not make any statements throughout the process and did not want to speak to his own lawyer. The judges of the Kassel Court fully complied with the claim brought by the General Prosecutor’s Office in Frankfurt am Main against the defendant. His defense had requested a lesser sentence on the grounds that it was an assassination attempt during which no death had been consummated.

“He acted in a planned and premeditated manner,” said the prosecutor Tobias Wipplinger during his final speech, in which he recalled that the defendant had installed a camera in his vehicle to record the multiple hit-and-run. The condemned man diverted his car to access the street where the carnival parade was held, closed to ordinary traffic, and launch at a speed of 50 to 60 kilometers per hour against the people who witnessed the show until his vehicle stopped after traveling more than 40 meters. A psychiatric expert report revealed that Maurice P. suffers from a serious personality alteration with narcissistic, schizophrenic and paranoid tendencies, although the doctor in charge of the analysis stressed that he does not meet the requirements to be admitted to a high-security psychiatric sanatorium.