Germany is in shock over the murder of Freudenberg, 60 kilometers from Bonn, on the border between Rhineland Palatinate and North Rhine Westphalia. A 12-year-old girl, Luise, little more than a child, was killed by two peers, who confessed. They massacred her with numerous stab wounds.
Luise’s murder shakes Germany
The victim had gone out on Saturday afternoon to visit a friend and never returned home. The parents immediately notified the police. On Sunday afternoon, the lifeless body of the little girl was found in a tunnel at the bottom of an escarpment, along a former abandoned railway line that has become a cycle path. The two friends aged 12 and 13 have fallen into contradictions several times. Finally, they admitted their responsibilities in the crime.
The motive is a yellow
The motive is a yellow. The confidentiality is almost total. “What may be a motive for a child may not be for an adult”: prosecutor Mannweiler limited himself to saying this, adding that the alleged perpetrators “must be protected, precisely because they are still children”. One of the hypotheses in the German press is that it was a matter of revenge for having “made fun” of one of the two. It has not yet been ascertained whether it was a premeditated murder or if the attack took place after a quarrel. No other accomplices are being sought.
They are not criminally liable
The age of the two teenagers does not allow criminal prosecution in Germany, which starts from the age of fourteen as in Italy. The prosecution going forward will take place behind closed doors, and defendants in the future will not even be obliged to appear before the court. Persons under the age of 14 are considered “children” in court in Germany (and also in Italy) “without ifs and buts” and therefore not liable to prosecution, but measures such as placement in a sheltered home can be ordered. Instead, from 14 to 18 years of age it is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Both girls are now in custody, in the care of social services. Total privacy, as total dismay is, throughout Germany, for a murder committed with ferocity. The murder weapon has not been found. Koblenz’s deputy police chief, Jürgen Süs, struggles to comment: “After 40 years of service, this case leaves me speechless.”