The teenager who idolised American serial killers and who fatally stabbed her Badoo date in the neck has been given 12 years in a socio-therapeutic facility.
Sarah M., 19, said on the last day of her trial at the Bamberg Regional Court in the German state of Bavaria on Wednesday, 9th February.
Upon the reading of a document attesting to her lust for murder and admiration of American serial killers, she said: “What the arrest warrant says is correct.”
Though experts described the young woman as emotionless and listless and said she suffered from borderline personality disorder, the prosecution said she was still culpable for her actions.
The court found her guilty of murder and gave her 12 years in a socio-therapeutic facility after the public prosecutor had recommended a youth sentence of 12 years and six months and her defence lawyer Thomas Drehsen had requested eight years.
In his plea to the court, senior public prosecutor Michael Hoffmann said: “The severity of the guilt stems from her complete callousness towards the victim and two hallmarks of murder.”
A total of 241 men wrote to ‘Domina Cherry’ (the moniker Sarah M. went by) on three dating platforms she had signed up to on 28th April 2021 – just three days before the murder of Zeyed E., 39.
Hoffmann said that had she not been arrested 37 minutes after the crime, “she could easily have gone undetected for days to carry out her grisly plan”.
The court heard how Sarah M. idolised American serial killers Richard Ramirez and Ted Bundy. But Drehsen said: “The act and execution were clumsy, compared to Ted Bundy and Richard Ramirez. Neither was arrested promptly, neither had previously announced his actions in the media.”
Sarah M. had reportedly sent her best friend a message before the attack saying “I want to kill my first one, wish me luck!” Franziska W., 19, is now being investigated by the public prosecutor’s office in Bamberg for failing to report a crime.
Sarah M. did not resist arrest at the time and the only time she appeared to express regret for her actions was in a psychological questionnaire when she responded to the question “What annoys me?” with the answer “That I’m missing the best time of my life because of a stupid mistake.”
Zeyed E. had moved to Germany from his native Iraq in 2014. He was living in the nearby city of Nuremberg and had most recently worked as a security guard.
He first wrote to ‘Domina Cherry’ on the day of the crime and the two arranged to meet that evening (1st May) ostensibly for casual sex.
He picked her up from her apartment, and when they were on a path close to the B470 main road, Sarah M. rammed her Oakwood camp knife 12 centimetres into Zeyed E.’s neck, hitting his right carotid artery.
He was able to snatch the knife from her and stop his car on the main road. However, he fell into a coma and died of his injuries in hospital weeks later. A bloodied Sarah M. was arrested in the nearby town of Ebermannstadt.
It was when investigators analysed her computer that they discovered her idolisation of American serial killers and her Internet searches for ways to kill someone.
The verdict is not yet legally binding.
