Brutal acid attack: “I will make her Miss Beauty of Gummersbach”

Gummersbach – Out of unrequited love, a 44-year-old is said to have poured sulphuric acid on his ex-girlfriend – The public prosecutor is demanding a long prison sentence – Hate messages testify to brutal fantasies of violence.

By Peter Notbohm

In February of this year, he is said to have poured 96 percent sulphuric acid over his former partner (OA reported). In the trial of the brutal acid attack on a 42-year-old woman from Gummersbach, the public prosecutor's office has demanded a long prison sentence. Konstantin D. (Editor's note: name changed) is said to be sentenced to eight years behind bars for grievous bodily harm.

The public prosecutor's office accuses the man (44) from the Republic of Moldova of lying in wait for his former girlfriend at her apartment in Gummersbach in the early hours of February 9th and pouring sulphuric acid over her. The 42-year-olds suffered severe second and third degree burns to their heads, hands and arms. She lost her right ear and doctors in a specialist clinic in Duisburg also had to remove a large part of her scalp. Konstantin D. made a confession at the start of the trial last Friday (OA reported).

The defense reportedly refrained from making a specific motion. The pleadings were held behind closed doors on Wednesday after the 12th Grand Criminal Division, headed by Wolfgang Schorn, had already excluded the public from the defendant's psychiatric report. The focus of the report is on the question of whether and in what form the 44-year-old has a pathological mental disorder and how this might have affected the crime. The chamber hoped that Konstantin D., who has acted rather reservedly up to now, would open up more without an audience. He could also be placed in a rehabilitation center.

Previously, several police officers, including the two officers who had arrested Konstantin D. on the same day in an apartment building in Monheim, had testified. The investigators had tracked him down using cell phone tracking. “He immediately put his hands up when he saw us. “There was no resistance and he was very calm when he was arrested,” reported a 26-year-old police officer. The 44-year-old did not appear to be drunk when he was arrested.

Also shown were several photos of the injuries of the victim, who is also appearing as a co-plaintiff in the proceedings, as well as of the crime scene. The plastic bottle in which the sulfuric acid had been transported was found by the investigators in a bush not far from the crime scene. Also read out were the numerous chat messages and voice messages that Konstantin D. had sent to a cousin of the 42-year-old from autumn 2023 onwards.

They were disturbing texts that were full of insults, threats and violent fantasies. “I will disfigure her with a knife blade and pour acid on her and have no pity for her. I will make her 'Miss Beauty of Gummersbach',” was one of the messages. In the messages he repeatedly referred to his ex-girlfriend, with whom he had been in a relationship for three years, as “dirty scum”. The woman had separated from him because of his drug addiction.

Even after the crime, the defendant is said to have written to the 42-year-old's cousin. There he admitted to the crime. “That's not how you treat me.” “I keep my promises,” said another message from the heroin addict. He had already fled to the Netherlands. In another voice message, he spoke of Denmark as a place of refuge: “I laughed myself to death. “We made a video of her,” it says in Russian.

Dr. Karl-Christoph Bode, Konstantin D.'s defense attorney, then said that his client found it difficult to show understanding: “He is an educated person, compassionate and has no criminal record.” Witnesses have also told us that he has never been known to be aggressive. He has said these things that are so full of hate and he has to live with them. But what is much worse for him is that the victim has to live with the consequences. He is ashamed of it.”

The verdict will be handed down on Friday. The court will then also comment on the issue of compensation for pain and suffering. Based on a similar case, up to 250,000 euros is being considered. The defense said that they accepted the basic verdict, but not the amount. Instead, 50,000 euros was mentioned, and the co-plaintiff rejected a settlement.