Two Senegalese men were each sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of a 46-year-old employee in a botched robbery at the former Vapiano restaurant on Avenue Kennedy in Kirchberg. A third defendant and former co-worker of the victim, who unlocked the door for the pair, was acquitted after the court found he had no knowledge of the plan.
The court confirmed that on the night of 16 April 2022, the two defendants – a then-24-year-old employee and a 30-year-old friend living under a false identity – hid inside the restaurant after closing time, intending to steal cash they believed could total €50,000. When the victim entered the office, she recognised one of them despite his mask, prompting a violent attack captured on CCTV.
Footage shown at trial revealed the assailants striking the woman at least ten times with a pair of pliers before one man strangled her. They emptied the safe, taking about €3,000 in cash, another €645 in daily takings and €328 in meal vouchers, then destroyed the victim’s phone and went to a bar and nightclub.
During the three-day trial in May, prosecutors called the crime an act of “inexplicable barbarity” and demanded identical 30-year sentences, citing the “shocking indifference” to human life. Defence lawyers argued the men panicked when recognised, but both defendants admitted the facts and apologised in court.
The acquitted 32-year-old colleague – who had answered a late-night call and let one perpetrator into the building on the pretext of collecting food – broke down repeatedly during testimony. The judge accepted the prosecution’s view that he was unaware of the robbery plot.
The victim, an Italian national who moved to Luxembourg in 2014, had worked at the restaurant for several years. Her family’s counsel dismissed the defendants’ apologies as hollow, stressing that the attackers “took a life for almost nothing”.
Under Luxembourg law, part of each 30-year term may be suspended at a later stage, subject to the court’s conditions, but the two men will remain in custody as convicted murderers.
