Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
Six cops broke down the door of a single mother’s flat when they heard her four-year-old son crying “mummy” after they had both been stabbed by their computer addict neighbour.
Gardening assistant Dominik Schreiber, 20, who is reportedly addicted to computer games sneaked into his neighbour’s ground floor property through the window and stabbed 27-year-old Michelle J. 41 times while she slept in the shocking killing that took place in November 2020.
The victim, who was a single mum, lived with her four-year-old son in the district of Brassert in the town of Marl in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and worked for DHL.
Cops had rushed to the building after the game had sent a message to an online friend with the message “I killed two people” and images of the crime believing he had murdered the victim’s son as well.
He had broken into the young mother’s apartment through the open bathroom window at around 11pm.
According to the police, the 20-year-old man took two knives from the kitchen (4.7 and 8.2 inches) and stabbed the woman while she was sleeping. Aside from the stab wounds, forensic experts also found two bite marks.
The friend had raised the alarm on six police officers are turned up, breaking into the flat after hearing the boy crying for his mother and finding him seriously injured with multiple stab wounds but still alive in his bedroom.
His mother was in the locked bedroom next door and police believe she had managed to shut the door with her last strength before dying inside as he then attacked her son identified by the first name Jason, apparently attempting to silence him.
However, the police later confirmed that the boy underwent emergency surgery and is now in stable condition.
Local media said Schreiber left the crime scene at around 12.15am and threw the knives away, but his friend alerted the police and he was arrested one hour later.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office in the city of Essen has charged the suspect, who has an unspecified mental disability, with murder, attempted murder, and grievous bodily harm.
The suspect’s defence lawyer Hans Reinhardt, 60, said: “My client is in shock, it is unclear where the violence came from, he has never had problems with the police before. Due to his severe mental disability, he must first be assessed.
“The motive probably lies in his world of virtual role-playing games, he heard voices and he had to obey.”
Schreiber’s neighbours said he was “a totally calm boy” and that the bloody incident appears completely out of character.
The public prosecutor’s office said the suspect, who lived with his parents and sister, spent most of his time on the internet playing the virtual universe game Avakin Life.
They also found that he had created avatars in order to have sex with other characters online.
He was transferred to a psychiatric institution to undergo an evaluation so the judicial authorities can decide whether he is fit to stand trial.
The investigation is ongoing.
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