The case dates back to the end of September 2023, when a 58-year-old woman was reported missing. Her husband quickly became the focus of the investigation and confessed to the crime five days later.
According to the investigation, the murder took place on the night of 29 September 2023. After returning home intoxicated from a party shortly after midnight, the woman was attacked by her husband. During questioning, the defendant admitted that he first punched her in the face, breaking her nose. This was a reflex, he added. While the woman was still standing upright, he grabbed her by the throat, squeezing until she could no longer breathe.
He then placed the body in a painter’s suit and a plastic bag, securing it with tape. After cleaning blood traces from the home, he loaded the body into his car and drove to a forest near Scheidgen, where he disposed of it down a 4–5m hill.
Investigators believe the murder was premeditated. The day before the killing, the accused had reportedly scouted locations to dispose of the body and purchased materials at a DIY store. After the crime, he returned to the site to cover the body with branches and later threw the victim’s mobile phone into a pond in Consdorf. In the days that followed, he continued his daily routine, including visiting a sauna and a gym.
On the Saturday after the murder, the man went to the police with his two children to report his wife missing. He confessed on the following Tuesday, 3 October.
Prosecutors believe the motive may stem from a conversation the couple had during a holiday just days before the killing, when the victim told her husband she had a lover and wanted a divorce. The defendant’s brother stated that the accused could not imagine life without his wife.
The couple had been married for 31 years and, according to the investigation, had no known history of violence or serious conflict. However, during questioning, the accused reportedly spoke of his wife in the past tense, as if she was already dead and never to return. The 69-year-old man from Dommeldange remains in custody.
The trial continues on Thursday afternoon.
