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The St. Gallen district court sentenced the author to a prison term of six and a half years for murder. According to Tuesday’s ruling, the convict, who comes from Kosovo and has lived in Switzerland for 46 years, will be expelled from the country for seven years. The verdict is not yet legally binding. The man is already in jail.
The convict came to Switzerland in 1974 and worked as a construction worker. He later moved in with his family to join him and has been in retirement for several years. Family relationships were intact for a long time. Violence in the family was not a problem, the prosecutor said at the hearing.
The father of her five children was described as calm, caring, patient, and understanding. When the last of the children moved out of their parents’ apartment in 2017, the couple’s relationship deteriorated. The woman, who was described by the children as impulsive, is said to increasingly insult his husband.
Whipped and brutally beaten
The man endured this for a long time and always remained calm. He hoped the insults would stop at some point, he told the court. However, on Good Friday 2019, after another rant of ranting against his wife, he completely lost control. He grabbed a 22-inch metal shoehorn and struck the victim 20 to 30 times. The woman died from her serious injuries.
The man called the police and was arrested without resistance. He later explained that he did not want to kill his wife. At the trial, he said he was very sorry about what happened. You don’t know what was going through your head at the time of the crime.
The prosecutor spoke of a clear emotional act, triggered by constant provocations and insults by the woman. The man was said to have had a “violent emotional movement which was excusable under the circumstances”, as is typical in homicide. The act was extremely brutal.
The defender demands a light punishment
Therefore, the prosecutor demanded a prison sentence of seven years. The penal code establishes from one year to ten years for homicide. The defense attorney asked for a much lighter sentence: two years in prison on probation was appropriate. Furthermore, the reference to a country should be waived.
The man was psychologically terrified for his wife. The situation in which he freaked out was caused by the victim. The man had never been violent before. After the fact, he immediately called the police and said that he had not overlooked or denied anything.
With its sentencing, the court largely followed the arguments of the prosecution. The act was “very brutal”, although it occurred in understandable and excusable affection, the court president said.
A country reference is appropriate. Even after 46 years in Switzerland, the convict was not fully integrated and spoke poor German. The district court hearing was translated into Albanian by an interpreter.
