Double murder: “Harassed”, the alleged shooter says he regrets having killed his neighbors

“It is not a question of minimizing the facts, which are very serious, but of understanding,” said Maître Lynn Frank, the lawyer for the 76-year-old man accused of having killed his neighbors two years ago in Niederkorn, and whose trial is taking place this week. For the record, the defendant is said to have shot dead his two neighbors in the street, a 62-year-old woman and her 54-year-old husband, using a hunting rifle, on October 17, 2022.

On the stand, the alleged shooter, dressed in a hoodie, explained in a soft voice that he “lost his mind” in the face of the “harassment” he allegedly suffered for five years from the couple. The couple allegedly destroyed his tomatoes and salad plants, contaminated his water tank with soap and manipulated his automated garage door with jammers. The accused and his wife even planned to move “as quickly as possible” and put their house up for sale. The wife explains that they had lowered the price of the property a few days before the tragedy.

For his part, the defendant describes himself as a man who is neither violent nor aggressive, who “does not get angry easily”. “I regret today having killed them,” he declared on the stand. The challenge for the accused’s defense is to highlight the “mitigating circumstances” which would have led him to commit the act. A dozen witnesses called by the defense described a climate of “provocation” and “terror” sowed by the couple in the neighborhood. Some neighbors even say they have moved.

But according to other testimonies collected the day after the tragedy, the alleged shooter himself terrorized part of the neighborhood. For example, he allegedly threatened a neighbor with an axe. The defendant risks “many years” in prison, a sentence which could be reduced if the judge takes into account these “mitigating circumstances”, notes Maître Lynn Franck. The trial continues until Friday.

Are you already following us on WhatsApp?