Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) has upheld a Cologne court’s conviction in a case involving the death of a young woman following prolonged abuse by her housemates. The court announced Wednesday that appeals filed by the defendants had been dismissed, confirming the original verdict was legally sound and did not contain any errors to the detriment of the accused.
The Regional Court of Cologne had previously sentenced three of the four defendants to life imprisonment on charges of murder and ordered the placement of two of them in secure custody. A fourth defendant received a total sentence of four years and six months for aggravated assault, incorporating a previously finalized conviction, with a two-month reduction for time served.
According to the Regional Court’s findings, all four defendants engaged in days of physical abuse against their housemate, subjecting her to repeated beatings and kicks within their shared residence. The abuse involved the use of items such as a dog leash, quartz-reinforced gloves and steel-toe boots and included the denial of food and fluids. While all four initially participated in the attacks, the abuse was later continued solely by the three defendants who ultimately received murder convictions.
The victim, who sustained severe injuries and was severely dehydrated, died several weeks after being rescued by police, succumbing to irreversible multi-organ failure despite receiving maximum medical care.
The verdict of the Regional Court is now legally binding following the decision of the Federal Court of Justice (Case number 2 StR 429/24, Decision dated July 1, 2025).