Confession made Court sentences knifeman from Appenzell bar to prison

On Tuesday, a 27-year-old man was sentenced to three years' imprisonment by the district court of Appenzell for attempted intentional homicide. He stabbed a customer in the chest with a folding knife in a bar in Appenzell before Christmas 2018.

On the evening of December 22, 2018, the accused bumped into various people in the bar and, according to the indictment, had at least 2.02 per mille alcohol in his blood. According to the indictment, one guest reprimanded him for this, grabbed him by the collar and pushed him to the floor.

The guest then turned away from the accused, turned his back on him and stood with his colleagues. While still standing up from the floor, the accused pulled out a knife and wanted to attack his opponent.

Another guest observed this situation. He tried to take the knife out of the defendant's hand. He turned towards him and suddenly thrust the knife, which had a blade length of 8.8 centimetres, between his ribs.

Emergency surgery saves the victim's life

Without immediate emergency surgery, the injured man would most likely have bled to death. According to the public prosecutor's office, he was lucky that a nurse who happened to be present administered first aid and that the ambulance was quickly on the scene.

In summary proceedings, the public prosecutor's office demanded a partial prison sentence of three years. The District Court of Appenzell accepted the prosecution's proposed sentence. Six months of the prison sentence are to be served unconditionally, the remainder of the prison sentence is suspended.

The man admitted everything in court and agreed to the punishment.

Compensation for the victim

In addition to the requested sentence, the court also confirmed the victim's claim for damages of around CHF 25,500 plus interest of five percent. In addition to the convictions for attempted intentional homicide, grievous and simple bodily harm, there were also convictions for traffic offenses, violations of the Weapons Act and depictions of violence.

The accused was also sentenced to a conditional fine of 100 daily rates of 110 francs. He must also pay the legal costs of around CHF 20,000.

Proceedings lasted almost six years

In addition to his cooperation during the criminal investigation, the long duration of the proceedings of almost six years also had a mitigating effect on the sentence. "It is difficult to understand why it took so long," said the presiding judge during his sentencing remarks.

The public prosecutor's office explained that the long duration of the proceedings was due to staff shortages at the public prosecutor's office and delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In his closing statement, the defendant declared that he was happy to be able to bring the matter to a close. He now wanted to look to the future.

SDA