A German mother has been jailed for life for secretly mixing a deadly dose of painkillers into her father’s favourite lung casserole dish and killing him.
Nurse Andrea K., 55, was found guilty of murder, and her daughter Nadine S., who knew about the plot, was jailed for four years for ‘attempted murder by omission’.
She was charged after she broke her silence two months after her grandfather’s death in Toeging am Inn, Bavaria, Germany, in August.
Nadine S., 30, reportedly said: “Mum killed grandpa. She put medicine in his food.”
The Traunstein District Court heard from the public prosecutor how it was “almost the perfect murder”.
But family members had grown suspicious after she pushed hard for her father to be cremated.
Alois K., 75, was nonetheless buried as per his wishes, which meant that key evidence that Andrea K. allegedly wanted to see destroyed was preserved.
Two months after his death, Alois K.’s corpse was dug up for analysis after Nadine S. allegedly told family members that her mother had put painkillers in her grandfather’s favourite food, saures luengerl, or sour lung stew, a popular dish in Bavaria.
It was then found that Alois K. had died of a lethal overdose of medication and not simply a heart attack, as a doctor had previously determined at the time of his death.
Nadine S.’s testimony against her mother in court was damning. She told the court: “She cooked for grandpa, which she didn’t usually do.
“When I came down later, grandpa was sitting lifeless on the couch.”
Prosecutors argued that Andrea K. had acted out of greed and wanted to get her father’s money and his house.
But the judge who jailed her for life for murder accepted that the motive was to end the violent disagreements that were tearing the family apart.
The judge said: “Their goal was to protect the family.”
Andrea K. said that all the arguing had made her father want to end his life, and that she had brought him the medicine, only to find him lifeless the next day.
The sentences are not yet final and the defendants plan to appeal, according to local media, with Andrea K. insisting that her father had wanted to die.
