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The Federal Court has decided. It is probably the end of a crime that shocked Switzerland.
The brutal act: In the spring of 2010, two men attacked the former mayor of Metzerlen. They apparently suspect large sums of cash in his house, but can’t find anything. All they do is steal a house and car key. Above all, they brutally tie up their victim and injure him so badly that the then 71-year-old man dies in the hospital four months later.
After years of investigation, two men with Serbian roots are convicted by the Dorneck-Thierstein district court. When the verdict was announced in June 2021, the court president spoke of a very brutal and cruel approach. “Only targeted torture would have been worse.” The verdict: around 19 or 18 years in prison for murder and attempted gang robbery. However, the two perpetrators do not accept the verdict.
The definitive verdict: Now, after the Solothurn Higher Court, the Federal Court, as the final instance, also confirms this verdict. It dismisses the complaints of the two convicts. In addition to Metzerlen’s murder, one of the two men is also convicted of a robbery at a jewelry store in Wettingen (AG).
The judiciary bases its verdict on DNA evidence. Among other things, a scarf was found at the crime scene in Metzerlen. Traces were also found on the cable ties with which the victim was tied. There is also a key witness. The two perpetrators denied involvement in the crime in court. According to the Federal Court, the lower court’s assessment of the evidence is understandable.
The international background: The case is extraordinary not only because of the brutality of the attack. The Solothurn justice system also assumes that the two perpetrators belong to an international criminal network. The so-called “Pink Panthers” are said to be primarily responsible for brutal robberies of jewelry stores in several European countries. The group is said to have its center in the Balkans.
There were therefore great security precautions for the two negotiations in the Metzerlen murder case in the district and higher courts. The locations were kept secret by the Solothurn judiciary; the media and public could only follow the trials via live stream.