When he stopped José Q. in his driveway on the morning of October 17, 2022, the shotgun was already hidden in the trash can. On the stand, the witness, a 78-year-old man, remembers this moment. According to him, he did not see José Q. other than usual. “He was normal, like everyone else,” he says. He had a good relationship with him. In their conversations, the latter would always have complained about a neighboring couple who “did nasty things to him”, according to the witness.
Since Tuesday, José Q. has been on trial for murder. Because that Monday morning, two years ago, the neighborhood quarrel took a tragic turn. When the accused saw the 62-year-old woman and the 54-year-old man leaving their home on rue des Trévires in Niederkorn, he took the rifle out of the trash and opened fire in the middle of the street. While his victims were injured and lying on the ground, the man, then aged 74, fired again at point blank range, according to the investigation.
“I lasted 18 months”
On the second and third days of the hearing, neighbors, friends and family of the accused took the stand. “I lasted 18 months and then I left,” says a woman who lived with the deceased couple in a house with two apartments until mid-2022. At first everything was fine, but then relations quickly deteriorated.
The couple tried to dictate their way of life. Cameras were installed without his consent and there was loud noise throughout the day. “It was lots of little things, which after 18 months were no longer so insignificant,” explains the 33-year-old. The last time she tried to talk to the couple to clarify things, she was yelled at by her neighbor.
After shots were fired in Niederkorn on October 17, 2022 around 10 a.m., the special police unit also went to the scene. © PHOTO: Elena Arens
But she didn’t know that José Q. didn’t get along with the couple either. She didn’t have much contact with this man. She does not want to approve of his action. She nevertheless shows a certain understanding due to her experience. “It’s not normal to have such a reaction. However, I can understand how we could reach this outcome.”
Disliked neighbors
“I only sold the apartment because of them,” the former owner of the apartment said on the witness stand. Other neighbors also report conflicts in court. Thus, the deceased couple allegedly threw thumbtacks on a stretch of road where children often cycled.
Statements from neighbors during the judicial police investigation show that the two victims were far from being appreciated in the neighborhood. A former neighbor even commented on the crime on social networks by saying “Déi si gutt vreckt” (which can be translated as “I am not unhappy with their fate”, Editor’s note), according to the main investigator.
“They treated me like a dog,” the defendant said Thursday. From the first day of the hearing, Tuesday, José Q. described the neighborhood conflict. The couple would not have left him alone. They allegedly destroyed his tomatoes and salad plants, soiled his water tank with soap and manipulated his garage with jammers. On the morning of October 17, 2022, he would have said to himself: “It’s them or me”
“He was definitely no longer the same man”
“No one helped us,” explains the accused’s wife. Despite the complaints and denunciations, neither the police nor the municipality did anything. At first, relations with the couple were good. Then the neighbors became intrusive. When the family distanced themselves, the situation quickly escalated. Attempts at mediation failed because the neighbor couple did not show up for appointments.
“He was no longer the same person I had known,” says one of the accused’s daughters. José Q. suffered more and more from the conflict and became more and more withdrawn. She didn’t believe her father would be capable of such an act. On the contrary, the family feared that the couple would harm them.
A psychiatric expert concluded that the accused had only diminished responsibility. According to the psychiatrist, a very marked compulsive and paranoid personality strongly influenced the man’s capacity for discernment at the time of the events. An assessment which could have an effect of mitigating the sentence for the accused if the judges were ultimately to accept reduced responsibility under article 71-1 of the penal code.
The trial will continue this Friday with, among other things, requests for damages from the families of the deceased.
This article was originally published on the website of Luxembourg word.
Adaptation: Thomas Berthol and Pascal Mittelberger.
