09.08.2022, Berlin: Der Angeklagte sitzt zu Beginn der Neuauflage des Prozesses nach dem gewaltsamen Tod einer 15-jährigen Schülerin an der Rummelsburger Bucht in der Anklagebank des Gerichtssaals. Der Angeklagte wurde im ersten Prozess wegen Mordes und Vergewaltigung zu einer lebenslangen Freiheitsstrafe verurteilt. Auf Revision des 43-Jährigen hat der Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) das Urteil aufgehoben und an eine andere Strafkammer des Landgerichts zurückverwiesen. Foto: Fabian Sommer/dpa +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++

Two years after the violent death of a Berlin student at the Rummelsburg Bay, the alleged murderer has remained silent in a new trial. The 43-year-old will not comment at the moment, said one of the defense attorneys on Tuesday before the Berlin Regional Court. The accused was sentenced to life imprisonment by the court in March 2021 for murder and rape. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) partially overturned the verdict. The central question is now the culpability of the 43-year-old.

According to the first verdict, the German had raped the 15-year-old student on the night of August 5, 2020 on a wasteland near Rummelsburg Bay and then strangled her. The young person had met the stranger to her shortly before at the Ostkreuz S-Bahn station.

[If you want the latest news from Berlin, Germany and the world live on your cell phone, we recommend our app, which you can download here for Apple and Android devices.]

The Federal Court of Justice confirmed the findings on what happened on the Spree Bay. However, all of the district court’s findings on the subjective factual side were overturned by the BGH. In November 2021, the BGH complained that the question of the 43-year-old’s criminal responsibility did not sufficiently take into account the interaction of illness, alcohol and drugs.