Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
A French builder accused of murdering his kids by putting building foam down their throats has gone on trial in Germany.
The man, identified only as 55-year-old Laurent F. because of local privacy laws, is accused of killing the two children because he wanted to get revenge on their mother.
He had been living in Dresden which is the capital of the German state of Saxony since 1992 where he had a building firm that had got into serious financial difficulties, and two years ago his wife moved out of the family home. In January last year, he was then arrested with a kilogramme of crystal meth that he was trying to smuggle into the country from Poland, according to local media.
The court heard that he increasingly blamed his ex-wife for his troubles and wanted revenge, and after allegedly killing the two children while they were staying with him he had then also tried to kill his estranged wife who was the mother of the two children.
Prosecutor Till von Borries said he was acting out of revenge because his wife had separated from him and injured his self esteem. He said: “The indictment alleges that on 9th May 2019, the building subcontractor strangled his two children Maya, 2, and Leo, 5, in his apartment until they were unconscious.
“In order to make sure that nobody was able to resuscitate them at the last minute, he then injected fast acting construction foam into their mouths in order to close off their airways.”
The court heard that not satisfied by the shocking killing, he had then tucked the tiny bodies up in bed to make it seem as if they were sleeping, and waited for his ex-wife to turn up.
When the woman, identified only as 27-year-old Marieta F. because of local privacy laws, arrived, he allegedly attempted to kill her too by hitting her from behind with a heavy object.
But the blow was softened by the fact that she was wearing a thick wig that prevented the blow from being fatal. He then allegedly continued trying to attack her as she tried to make it to the entrance to the building where she collapsed unconscious.
He was then disturbed by eyewitnesses. When the neighbours tried to awaken the children, they at first thought they were sleeping and when they realised that they were not breathing and tried to resuscitate them, they discovered their mouths filled with construction foam.
An expert testimony which was rejected by the defence alleged that the action was designed to cause the “maximum damage to his wife”.
The trial continues.
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