The Zurich Supreme Court has increased the prison sentence for a 57-year-old from 5 years and 2 months to 8 years. The handyman stabbed a man with whom he had previously had an argument at a traffic light.
The lower court’s prison sentence for the accused craftsman has now been extended by the Zurich High Court.
This case is a real lesson, says chief judge Daniel Bussmann at the end of the opening of the verdict: A lesson in “that you should avoid any confrontation on the road, as it can endanger the lives of those involved”.
It was only a few seconds that threw the lives of two complete strangers off track on April 24, 2020 at a gas station in Adliswil: A 57-year-old self-employed Swiss painter and family man has been in prison ever since. He lost his business and his livelihood. When Judge Bussmann asked him what the aim of his appointment was, he replied: “As soon as possible hey gah.” His adult children sit as spectators in the hall.
Around noon he was driving his delivery van from Zurich Wollishofen to Thalwil. A traffic signal system made contact with a 48-year-old motorcyclist through the side window. Those involved describe different things: The motorcyclist only claims to have shaken his head because the driver of the delivery truck stopped driving when the green light came on. The painter claims to have been verbally insulted and given the stinky finger.
A short time later, the two met again at the gas station in Adliswil. Video footage from surveillance cameras shows the delivery truck pulling into the gas station immediately behind the motorcycle. The motorcyclist goes to the petrol station shop. The painter parks, leans into his car on the passenger side for around 20 seconds, takes out an object, goes to the parked motorcycle and waits there for 48 seconds.
Attack on unsuspecting victim
When the motorcyclist comes out of the shop, the motorist immediately throws himself at the unsuspecting, surprised man, grabs him with one hand and stabs him in the abdomen with the other hand. Then he swings his hand several more times against his victim’s head and neck area. The motorcyclist still wearing his helmet can avoid it.
The perpetrator has a knife in his hand, but it is not visible in the video recordings. The motorcyclist is hit in the side with the first stab at the level of the spleen and lungs. The powerful stab penetrated his leather jacket and kidney belt and was probably slowed down by it. The injury was not life-threatening, but required surgery under general anesthesia.
In front of the Supreme Court, the accused first declared that he did not want to make any statements at all, but then – to the visible displeasure of his defense attorney – gave quite detailed information. In the car he did not hand over a knife, but his wallet.
As before the lower court, he claims that he only wanted to talk to the motorcyclist. But he got scared when he approached him. He had testified before the Horgen district court that he had taken the man for an Albanian. He himself was originally Albanian. In 2004 he was naturalized. The accused also asserts that he only stabbed once and not against the head and neck.
The prosecutor, who has also lodged an appeal, is asking for the lower court’s sentence to be increased from 5 years and 2 months to 8 years. The defender wants a partially conditional prison sentence of 18 months only for qualified, simple bodily harm. The lower court misrepresented the facts.
Among other things, the lawyer repeatedly claims that the course of events was not dynamic but static and that the motorcyclist’s neck was completely protected by his full-face helmet. The fact that “the scene and time of the crime were extremely unsuitable” to kill someone also speaks against an intention to kill.
Uncontrolled “highly dynamic” events
However, the Supreme Court followed the prosecutor all along the line and sentenced the accused to 8 years imprisonment for possible intentional attempted homicide. A psychiatric report had not recorded any restriction of his criminal responsibility. The lower court’s satisfaction of 5,000 francs is confirmed.
Chief Justice Bussmann states that the video recordings are completely inconsistent with the statements of the defense attorney and the statements of the accused. He immediately approached the motorcyclist and, without hesitation, stabbed him with full force. There was no attempt to speak.
The events were clearly “highly dynamic”. The accused tried to stab his victim in the head and neck with several stitches. And a full-face helmet certainly doesn’t offer any protection in the neck area. It was pure coincidence that the victim was not critically injured or killed. The accused accepted his death.
Bussmann speaks of an “impressive coolness” and a “crass contempt for human life”. Because of a trifle, the accused did not shy away from stabbing his victim unrestrainedly and ice cold in broad daylight in a video-monitored location. With regard to the motive, the court assumes that the accused wanted to take revenge on the motorcyclist because he probably actually gave him the middle finger.
Judgment SB220020 of October 4, 2022, not yet final.