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The court awarded Nock, now 55, a satisfaction of 11,000 francs and 12,000 francs in compensation for the loss of income. Several appearances were canceled for the artist as a result of the process.
It was two incidents a long time ago. In May 2008, the defendant strangled his wife. Later he held it over the railing as if he was about to drop it. The prosecution alleged that he endangered his life.
The second incident occurred in March 2013, when a pillow was squeezed to his face in a hotel room in Zurich until he nearly suffocated. Then he hit her in the face several times with his fist. For the prosecutor, this was attempted murder and attempted serious assault.
In December 2011, the Zofingen district court sentenced Nock to a partially conditional prison term of two and a half years. Both parties contested the judgment. The defendant demanded acquittal, the prosecutor increased the sentence to six and a half years.
The proceedings were word for word. The district judges relied on the woman’s descriptions. The defendant had denied the allegations. There were no witnesses.
“In doubt …”
With its sentence, the superior court reversed the decision of first instance. It ruled on the principle of “In case of doubt of the accused”. The couple had “apparently a toxic relationship,” the presiding judge said at the opening of the verdict. There is no evidence for the accusations.
The incidents were a long time ago, the judge said. “We weren’t there,” there were no “factual statements” because they only became a problem in 2015. At the time, the woman had plans to separate, and it involved custody of her son, among other things.
Also, there was a lack of objective evidence, the descriptions of the woman were inconsistent, something was added over and over again. There are also “serious doubts” about what happened.
“It sure was too wild”
Certainly that day in May 2008 “was not in harmony,” said the judge. But what exactly happened is not known. In no way did the woman’s life “hang by a fine thread.”
The incident in the hotel room in March 2013 certainly led to a fight – “it sure was going to be wild,” the two daughters from their previous relationships in the next room would have noted. But here it is also not clear what exactly happened.
The bruises on the chin and forehead described by the woman did not indicate violent blows; unfortunately, the superior court knew from other cases what a face would look like. There have also been no attempts at serious bodily harm.
Even in the pillow incident, the woman’s description that she was able to turn her head under the pillow does not indicate that the defendant “pressed as if to kill her”. In general, you don’t know exactly what happened and what didn’t. In any case, the allegations are not made.
Intermittent relationship
The Nocks’ relationship has made headlines over and over again. A few months after the 2013 incidents, the two got married. In 2015 she moved in with her son, but returned with him the following year and dropped the accusations. Now the divorce is pending.
The world-famous tightrope artist appeared in the court audience in one of his exhibition costumes, a red and white leather suit with a large Swiss cross on the chest and back. After the acquittal, his daughters from a previous relationship crowded around him, crying with relief.
The sentence can still be referred to the Federal Supreme Court.
