Manager Bernhard Günther was attacked by two masked men and showered with sulfuric acid. In fact, a Belgian is said to have been involved. The defense demands acquittal.
Wuppertal – After the acid attack on the energy manager Bernhard Günther four years ago, the public prosecutor’s office has applied for twelve years in prison for the accused. In view of the evidence and especially the DNA traces, there could be “no reasonable doubt” that the 42-year-old Belgian was complicit, said prosecutor Dorothea Tumeltshammer.
Günther was permanently disfigured, he was suffering from severe pain, and his family was also affected. “The injured party will not get his former life back,” said the prosecutor.
The Belgian once again protested his innocence in the trial at the Wuppertal Regional Court: “I’ve never been near him, I’ve never seen him,” he said. In fact, he has nothing to do with it. His defense attorney demanded that his client be acquitted and released from custody.
The 55-year-old top manager Günther was attacked by two men near his home in Haan near Wuppertal on March 4, 2018, he was showered with highly concentrated sulfuric acid and severely burned. From the point of view of his lawyer Martin Meinberg, the aim was to get rid of him as a professional competitor. At the time, Günther was CFO of the energy company “Innogy”, which was taken over by the Eon group a few days later. He suspects a client from the professional environment, but does not name a name.
Günther had to be operated on several times. Eyelids and parts of his facial skin had to be transplanted. Numerous other operations were still to come, Günther said. The prosecutor said he could no longer close one eye properly. “The injured person feels the consequences of the act with every blink of an eye,” she said.
The indictment is based primarily on a black disposable glove with DNA traces of the defendant, which was found at the crime scene with a glass with sulfuric acid residues. In addition, the accused had an injury to his left foot treated a few days after the crime, which, according to reports, could have come from an acid burn.
The tip about him and another suspect came from an unknown whistleblower who had given the names in exchange for substantial money payments of more than 150,000 euros. However, the whistleblower had only made statements about an acute danger to life through a lawyer. Nevertheless, the information was correct without contradiction and verifiable in details, said the prosecutor.
The accused, who worked as a car mechanic among other things, claims that the glove with the DNA traces may have been stolen from his car and placed at the crime scene. The foot injury may have resulted from an accident in the workshop. The public prosecutor described this as a protective allegation. The accused had missed the opportunity to confess in his last word and name the accomplice and thus achieve a significant reduction in sentence.
The investigations into the other suspects had not resulted in sufficient suspicion and had been discontinued. Günther said he hoped the decision would not end the investigation. The middlemen and clients would also have to be found. A verdict was expected in the afternoon. dpa
#Prosecution #twelve #years #acid #attack