Homicide A video is evidence in the Zurich trial over a murdered wife

A key piece of evidence in the Zurich court trial over the death of a wife is a video - taken in the couple's apartment. The prosecution and defense drew very different conclusions from it on Wednesday.

The 51-year-old defendant had installed the camera himself in the apartment to monitor his wife. This was because he suspected that she was having an affair with a neighbor.

However, the suspicion had no basis whatsoever, as the prosecution and defense lawyers agreed. In the late afternoon of November 23, 2022, another argument broke out over this alleged affair. The 40-year-old wife made it clear to her husband that she had had enough.

"Really tortured"

He then attacked her with a kitchen knife. She fought back and a fight broke out, which spread through various rooms and was at least partially recorded by the camera. Partly because of these images, the public prosecutor classifies the crime as murder.

The accused "literally tortured" his wife with numerous knife stabs and cuts until he finally inflicted the fatal cuts on her neck. He had wanted to assert his claim to power and punish her. The man should be sentenced to life imprisonment for murder.

Accused did not want to say anything

According to the defense lawyer, however, the investigators relied too heavily on the gruesome images and did not investigate further. In the months leading up to the crime, his client had undergone major psychological changes and had become obsessed with the idea of an affair. He had committed the crime in an "excusable violent emotional state". It was manslaughter and a seven-year prison sentence was appropriate.

The accused Swiss man with Turkish roots said nothing about his crime in court. He also refrained from making a closing statement. The verdict will be opened next Friday afternoon.

SDA