A court has jailed a woman and a young man to life in prison for beating the woman’s imam husband to death with a sledgehammer so they could elope.
The victim was the young man’s brother, and the judge concluded that the two defendants killed him so they could elope together.
The trial of Ali Danish M., 25, and Stephanie M., 31, concluded on Monday, 15th November, with the Ulm Regional Court in the south-western German state of Baden-Wurttemberg handing life sentences to both defendants.
According to the court, Stephanie had lured her husband, 26-year-old Shahid M., on a riverside walk in the town of Ebersbach an der Fils, where her lover, Ali Danish, was lying in wait on 21st December 2020.
The defendants’ and the victim’s full surnames were not reported due to strict local privacy laws.
When the moment arrived, a masked Ali Danish jumped out on his older brother Shahid and attacked him with a sledgehammer, killing him at the scene. The cause of death was later given as severe head injury.
Though it was Stephanie who reported the crime to the police, she swiftly became a suspect herself, and she was arrested along with her lover six days after the crime. The two remained in custody until the recent trial.
The police concluded that the killing was premeditated, as the incident took place in a secluded spot, forensic specialists found Shahid’s blood on Ali Danish’s shoes, and recovered messages between the suspects that had been deleted revealed the nature of their relationship.
According to the public prosecutor, the couple lived in an apartment in Ebersbach an der Fils with their three young children, with Ali Danish moving in in the spring of 2020. The brothers were of Pakistani origin.
Shahid allegedly had professional problems and was becoming increasingly engrossed in his religion, becoming an imam around that time, with his Muslim-convert wife feeling increasingly isolated and often being left alone with the children.
She allegedly found solace in Ali Danish, and the two swiftly embarked on a love affair, later forging a plan to get rid of the imam.
The sentences came as a blow for the defendants’ lawyers, who were pushing for acquittals. It was not reported if the decision can be appealed or if it is final.
