Die Welt

Prosecutors in the German town of Hettstedt in Saxony-Anhalt have ordered the detention of an 18-year old man for homicide following the violent death of a 54-year old woman at the town marketplace. A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said that one witness to the incident had already come forward.

The man claimed to have no memory of the incident, and no motive for the crime has been established. A psychiatric report is expected to clarify whether or not he is culpable and to determine whether he is suffering from amnesia.

The man is said to have struck and kicked his victim in a prolonged assault while she lay on the ground both defenceless and probably unconscious.

The autopsy report revealed that the victim had suffered fracturing of the base of the skull and skin loss from her head. She had bled heavily both internally and externally and died on the way to hospital.

The assailant, who lived with his parents and had completed an apprenticeship the previous year, was reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time. When he was arrested immediately after the incident he was wearing only gym shorts and had draped a tablecloth around his body, which he had taken from a nearby pizzeria. Police found a pair of trousers at the pizzeria which was found to belong to him.