100 witnesses have been invited: a huge trial began last week at the Nuremberg-Fürth regional court. It's about the alleged murder of the heavily pregnant Alexandra R.
Update from April 16, 8:30 a.m.:
It is the third day of proceedings in the mammoth trial at the Nuremberg Fürth Regional Court. On Monday (April 15th) the partner of the missing Alexandra R. testified. The 39-year-old comes into the courtroom wearing a T-shirt that shows an ultrasound image of his unborn child. He keeps bursting into tears. He says she was happy for the first time in a long time and was looking forward to their child and the new house.
Partner testifies as a witness: “The worst day of my life”
But then December 9, 2022 came – “the worst day of my life”. On that day, the 39-year-old disappeared without a trace, eight months pregnant at the time (see previous updates). In the morning he received an email from his heavily pregnant partner so that he could print out a registration for a birth preparation course. Later in the day he found out that she hadn't picked up her beloved foster daughter from daycare and then he suddenly received a farewell message from her saying that she had gone abroad. “That didn’t fit at all.” He immediately believed it was a kidnapping and went to the police.
Alexandra R. was a very kind person, a good person, he emphasized. She did everything for her foster daughter. She would never have let them down. The foster daughter is still screaming for her mom, the 39-year-old said in court. The child currently lives with him and his parents. That was the last thing he could do for his partner, he says.
The investigators assume that Alexandra R. was murdered. There are still 34 more days of trial scheduled in the circumstantial evidence trial; a 50-year-old from Bosnia-Herzegovina and a 48-year-old German have to answer for murder, hostage-taking, fraud and other crimes.
Update from April 9th, 11 a.m.:
The trial for the alleged murder of the heavily pregnant Alexandra R. began on Tuesday morning in Nuremberg. The two defendants exercised their right to remain silent on the first day of the trial and did not comment on the allegations. This was stated by the defense after the charges were read out. The two men's decision came as no surprise as they have remained silent about the allegations since their arrest.
Circumstantial evidence trial: Public prosecutor tries to prove men committed crime
First report from April 9th, 7 a.m
.: Nuremberg-Fürth - She disappeared without a trace on December 9th, 2022: The 39th-Alexandra R. The mysterious case surrounding the heavily pregnant Nuremberg woman took a turn in September when two suspects were arrested. They have been in custody ever since. The circumstantial evidence trial begins at the Nuremberg-Fürth regional court on Tuesday (April 9th). The public prosecutor's office is trying to prove the suspect's alleged murder of the woman without a confession or direct witnesses. The court therefore relies solely on evidence when making a verdict.
Huge trial begins in Nuremberg: investigators reconstruct the day of the disappearance
A total of almost 40 days of negotiations are planned until the end of July. The public prosecutor's office accuses Alexandra R.'s former partner and his business partner of hostage-taking, murder and computer fraud. More than 100 witnesses will be called and ten experts will take part in the trial.
The woman, who was eight months pregnant, was taking her foster child to daycare on the day she disappeared and has been missing since then. According to the prosecution, her former partner, the 50-year-old defendant B., and the 48-year-old defendant T. followed the woman in a car that day to an empty property that belonged to her in Schwabach. There they overpowered the 39-year-old and took her to a warehouse in Hilpoltstein. The police later found a duct tape for gagging. There was Alexandra R.'s hair and an ear stud on it.
Suspects tried to cover up the crime
There, at the latest, the public prosecutor's office was convinced that they persuaded R. to withdraw their criminal charges in two ongoing investigations against the two accused by sending a handwritten letter. They then killed the woman and hid the body in a previously unknown location.
The men pretended that R. had voluntarily gone abroad. For this purpose, one of the two sent farewell messages from her cell phone to people close to her and brought the phone to Italy to lay a false trail.
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Prosecutors see greed as the motive
The prosecution sees the motives for the crime as personal and economic. B. used the solid financial circumstances of the senior bank employees for his real estate transactions during the long-term relationship. This was handled by T's company. With the help of B., R. acquired a total of 27 properties on credit over several years. These were renovated, rented and sold through T.'s company.
After separating from B. in March 2022, Alexandra R. ended the collaboration and cut off his money. There was an argument, which was followed by complaints from R. The accused are then said to have fraudulently obtained an enforcement order against them for a high six-figure sum of money, which R. defended against under civil law.
The prosecution is convinced that the woman was kidnapped and killed by the accused a week before the crucial hearing. The prosecution considers the murder characteristics of greed, base motives and the facilitation and cover-up of another crime to be met. The accused remained silent about the allegations.
(tkip with dpa)