Trial in Bonn "I was like in a tunnel"

Bonn/Swisttal · Two duelists with pistols on a country lane in Swisttal-Essig. One of them sinks to the ground, hit by four bullets. The perpetrator flees and later shoots at a car in Bonn. Now the 44-year-old is on trial.

The 44-year-old accused and his lawyer in court.

The 44-year-old accused and his lawyer in court.

Foto: Peter Kölschbach

A scene like in a western: two men, pistols ready to shoot, approach each other, eye each other. Then shots whip through the silence, one of the duelists lies on the ground, hit in the arm and leg by four bullets.

The only difference is that the crime did not take place on a dusty street in Dodge City, but on a country lane in Swisttal-Essig, on the evening of 1 August 2022. Yesterday, a 44-year-old man from Bonn was brought before the jury court to answer for the bloody crime. And also for an attack in Pützchen, where he allegedly shot at a car.

The charges: attempted manslaughter in combination with dangerous bodily harm, violation of the Weapons Act, dangerous interference with traffic and driving without a licence.

The man is no stranger to the legal system: Constables picked him up from Siegburg Prison, where he is currently serving a nine-month prison sentence for driving without a licence, according to a verdict of Neuwied District Court. In 2013/14, he had broken open Deutsche Bahn ticket vending machines and was sent to Euskirchen prison.

There, in prison, he had a fateful encounter with the later victim (48) of the shooting, who was also housed there as an inmate. Both had become friends, the accused described. They had done business together and had flown to Mallorca for a holiday. He had worked in the garage of his new friend and had also advised him in life crises. Since he was bad with money, the small businessman had taken the wages into custody and put the notes in a tin, allegedly 35,000 euros.

Last summer, however, it came to blows, according to the 44-year-old. The boyfriend had beaten up his wife and children, whereupon he had confronted him. In the course of the argument, each allegedly threatened the other that he would "send people" to him. The accused finally demanded a discussion, which was also supposed to be about the money from the tin can.

The meeting place was the field path in Essig, not far from the workshop, at around 8 pm on 1 August. The 44-year-old put a pistol in his waistband, both men approached, at the same time the accused pushed the magazine into the gun because the competitor "had something in his right hand". When they were still eight to ten metres apart, he saw what it was: a silver-coloured pistol. "Now it was a question of: who is faster?". He was. Hit by four shots, the 48-year-old collapsed.

"I didn't want to kill him"

"I didn't want to kill him", the shooter affirmed yesterday. Shortly after the crime, he admitted, he ran to Odendorf and had himself taken to Bonn by taxi. There he took his nephew's Audi, drove - without a driving licence - aimlessly through the city, got annoyed at a driver on Pützchens Chaussee who was too slow for him, braked him out and then shot at the bonnet of the Opel. "I was like in a tunnel," said the 44-year-old. The bullet got stuck in the tyre. Afterwards, he claims to have sunk the pistol into the Rhine.

But his rage was not over. The following evening, according to the prosecution, he rang the doorbell of the workshop boss, who was lying seriously injured in hospital. When the wife and one of the sons opened, he demanded the money lying in the workshop and announced that he would come back so often "until I have the money". The indictment speaks of a threat "with massive use of force". Days later, the man was arrested by special police forces. The trial is continuing.

(Original text: Johannes Lehmann; Translation: Mareike Graepel)

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