Judgment: arson in arcade

The district court Ulm sentenced a woman to a long prison sentence for arson and attempted murder. The 42-year-old defendant is said to have sparked a fire last year with a Canister Spiritus in a arcade in Ehingen (Alb-Donau-Kreis). At the time of the crime, a total of 14 residents slept on the floor above the casino. For this reason, the judges guilty of attempted murder in 14 cases and sentenced them to five years and three months in prison.

Several crimes

The branded fire in the arcade occurred in September 2020 and asked for a special patience from the public prosecutor due to some entanglements and the motif. For this reason, the trial of the 42-year-old defendant was over several months before the final judgment was recently spoken. So the woman should be loud American press agency (dpa) With the fire, tried to cover up the theft of certain documents. As an employee of the arcade, she had Subject the sales of the establishment several times. The fire set should cover up the demonstrable evasion of the funds. Therefore, the public prosecutor’s office accused of serious arson, theft and embezzlement.

In their plea cited, the plaintiffs demanded a period of five years and six months based on the combined crimes. The negligence with which the woman acted was particularly difficult. According to the court, she took the fire approving the death of the people, which were unsuspecting in their apartments above the arcade. Since the accused lay the fire around midnight, most residents slept and got nothing from the fire. A total of 14 people were exposed to a life -threatening situation, which prompted the public prosecutor to advocate attempted murder in 14 cases.

Defense demands milder punishment. The accused’s lawyer tried to avert a conviction for attempted murder during the trial. Since his client has never targeted her actions that people would be harmed, a murder was inappropriate. Accordingly, there was a milder punishment that was considered under two years in prison due to arson and embezzlement.

Defendant breaks her silence

Apart from the many entanglements, the case was slowed down by the accused himself. This had been silent until the end and had no position on the allegations before the events suddenly overturned in March. The defense indicated in this regard that The former employee of the arcade took 200 $ from a change and embezzled. According to the agreed media reports, around eight such offenses are said to have been admitted. The woman wanted to use the money to pay her rent for August and September 2020.

At this point, arson was not yet an issue. Nevertheless, she became aware that the stole money would provide inquiries at the latest at the next cash check. To avert the impending disaster I decided in the affect to steal the corresponding documents. In the last act of her crime sequence, she finally took the fire to maneuver herself out of the bredouille.

Low fire damage. The fire had gone out on its own in December 2020 after a short time and did not injure any of the residents above the arcade. Accordingly, the fire brigade was not necessary. According to the DPA, the damage caused by the fire was around 5,000 $ .

No murder intentions

The fire plays only a subordinate role in the entire case with regard to the motive of the crime and yet has ensured the severity of the verdict. The defendant randomly saw a canister with bioethanol in her basement, which ultimately encouraged her to create an arson. Even if they Consciously lit only a carpet in the arcade so as not to trigger a major firethe district court Ulm could not overlook negligent action.

According to the fire, the woman is said to have followed the fire to postpone the upcoming cash check. By intervening the police and the fire brigade, the arcade should be closed for a short period of time. So she would have had enough time to pay back stolen money. Murder intentions were never an issue accordingly.

Foundation for arson. Arson is not a cavalier offense in USA. The Criminal Code (StGB) differentiates between different degrees of arson in the case law. In the case of the former arcade employee, a particularly serious arson was pleaded, which can result in a prison sentence of two to 15 years. With death, the sentence would have meant at least ten years.