Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

The man caught on camera almost completely beheading his wife with an axe after running her over with his car has gone on trial for murder and faces a life sentence.

The incident in which Imad A., 34, stands accused of killing his wife outside a women’s refuge centre made international headlines after it was filmed. The accused is standing trial at the court in Limburg, in the central German state of Hesse, accused of murder and dangerous driving.

The court heard how Imad A. had been staking out the property and had watched his estranged wife Sana, 31, leaving the women’s centre with their two children in the morning on the day of the incident. When she came out, he ran her over with a car and then attacked her with an axe.

The motivation was her decision to leave him, taking their the two children with her, and the attack was premeditated according to prosecutors who say he had even hired a private investigator to determine her movements.

In the car, investigators found a non-lethal self-defence gun made by Walther, three knives, duct tape, white disposable gloves, pepper spray, a fake beard, a wig, two cleavers and an axe.

The Audi A6 he is accused of running his wife over with was reportedly borrowed. Passersby helped Imad A. out of the vehicle, believing that a terrible accident had just occurred. But instead, he pulled the gun on them, forcing them to flee before turning his attention to his estranged wife.

He is then alleged to have hit her over the head several times with a 30-centimetre (11.8-inch) cleaver. He then allegedly went to the boot of the car and took out a 45-centimetre (17.7-inch) axe that he used to hit Sana with at least five times.

His lawyer, Wolfgang Stahl, said at the beginning of the trial that the incident was a “failed attempt at a so-called extended suicide” and that the “crime may have been committed in a state of reduced guilt.”

The defendant is set to speak on the next day of the trial.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.