Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
An ex-inmate has been sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of murdering his own grandmother so that he could steal her jewellery.
Merlin Franciszak, 35, was found guilty of murdering his grandmother Eva Franciszak, 86, by the Bonn district court and handed a life sentence on Tuesday, 16th June 2021.
In addition, while Franciszak received preventive detention, his girlfriend identified as Yvonne B., 33, who was accused of conspiring in the killing, was acquitted by the judge.
Franciszak killed his grandmother in her own back garden in the German city of Bonn on 16th September 2020.
The 86-year-old woman was the only one in the family that had welcomed the defendant into her home after he was released from a six-year prison sentence.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, Franciszak planned to kill his grandmother and then steal all the valuables from her house.
His girlfriend, Yvonne B., who was accused of involvement, was acquitted even though it turned out that she had known about the murder plans, but had not believed he would really do it.
He was caught because as he tried to strangle his victim to death, she began to scream, which resulted in the neighbours calling the police after they heard her.
When the officers arrived on site they encountered 35-year-old Merlin, who claimed nothing had happened.
He was immediately arrested after the cops discovered his grandmother’s corpse lying under a hedge in the front yard and covered with a blanket.
An expert told the court that Franciszak was “narcissistic and antisocial” whilst he also suffered from a “complex personality disorder”.
However, the court ruled that he was completely aware of what he was doing when he killed his grandmother.
The judge acquitted Yvonne B. who claimed that she did not believe that her boyfriend would really kill his grandmother but told her: “If you had more courage and reported the crime, the victim could still be alive.”
