Revision before the BGH: did Lübcke's murderer have an accomplice?

Three years ago, the CDU politician and Kassel District President Lübcke was shot dead on his terrace at night.

Revision before the BGH: did Lübcke's murderer have an accomplice?

Three years ago, the CDU politician and Kassel District President Lübcke was shot dead on his terrace at night. A right-wing extremist admits the fact - but questions remain. The Federal Court of Justice should now clarify this.

It is the most emotional moment in the hearing at the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) on the murder of Kassel's District President Walter Lübcke: When the lawyers have finished their pleadings, Irmgard Braun-Lübcke takes the floor this Thursday in the Karlsruhe courtroom. "It's important for us that we learn the whole truth," says the widow, looking back on the criminal case at the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt. You can hear how difficult it is for her to perform. "The current verdict leaves a few questions unanswered that we would like to have clarified." It's all about the last minutes of her husband's life: Was there another exchange of words or was he shot in an ambush?

The CDU politician was shot in the head at close range on June 1, 2019 late at night on his terrace. The Higher Regional Court convicted the 48-year-old right-wing extremist Stephan Ernst as the murderer. He had increasingly projected his xenophobia onto Lübcke since the latter had campaigned for the admission of refugees at a town meeting years earlier. Ernst should serve a life sentence for this.

In January 2021, the Higher Regional Court also determined the particular severity of the guilt. This means that early release from prison after 15 years is legally possible, but in practice it is almost impossible. The OLG sentenced the second accused Markus H., a friend of Ernst from the right-wing scene, to a suspended sentence for a weapon offense - but not for aiding and abetting. He was released in October 2020.

However, the Lübcke family and the federal prosecutor continue to assume that the 46-year-old played a much more central role, supporting Ernst in his project and providing psychological assistance. He practiced shooting with Ernst and strengthened his will to act. Ernst had changed his statement several times and at times accused H. of having been with him at Lübcke's and - in one version - even holding the gun.

The Frankfurt judges did not consider this to be credible and acquitted H. on this point. The prosecution now asserted gaps and deficiencies in the judgment before the third criminal division of the BGH. The Higher Regional Court does not explain plausibly how Ernst's DNA got onto Lübcke's shirt, said co-prosecutor Holger Matt. "At this point in the core event there is a large black hole." The court also did not stringently classify H.'s role, said federal prosecutor Johann Schmid.

H.'s defense attorney Björn Clemens admitted that there was no doubt that his client was right. "But that's not an accessory to murder." If someone - like Ernst - is already determined to act, it is no longer possible to influence him.

Ernst's lawyer Mustafa Kaplan, in turn, opposed the reservation of preventive detention after the prison sentence. Ernst confessed, showed remorse and apologized to the family. In the Frankfurt trial, his defense attorney had pleaded for a conviction for manslaughter. Ultimately, all sides went into revision.

This also applies to a co-accused attack on an Iraqi asylum seeker. Someone had stabbed the man in the back in 2016. After Lübcke's murder, a knife sharpened into a dagger was found on Ernst's property, which could have been used as a murder weapon. However, the investigators also found proof of purchase for an identical knife on a USB stick - from a few weeks after the crime. The Higher Regional Court based the acquittal on this, among other things.

Federal prosecutors and the victim as joint plaintiffs believe that Ernst intentionally prepared the document for exoneration. They want their version to be examined more closely. The Senate wants to make a judgment on August 25th. The presiding judge Jürgen Schäfer did not reveal any tendencies. The highest criminal judges only check the OLG judgment for legal errors. They hear no witnesses, raise no evidence.

Dirk Metz, spokesman for the Lübcke family, said after the trial that the relatives were confident that Markus H.'s acquittal could be overturned. The appointment was a challenge for the widow in particular, and you could feel the tension. "Of course, that was a really difficult walk for her today." The murder of her husband, the father of her two sons, the grandfather of her four grandchildren, is now part of her life, said Irmgard Braun-Lübcke in her statement. The family has to deal with it. Sometimes it works better, sometimes less well. "With this murder not only his life was destroyed, but also some of ours."