Man receives nine years' imprisonment in Frauenfeld for killing wife

In its verdict, the court followed the prosecution's request. There was no evidence of remorse, it said in its reasoning. It had to be assumed that the man would act in the same way again in a similar situation.

He must pay the costs of the investigation, proceedings and court costs amounting to around 37,000 francs. The verdict is not yet final.

He shot his sleeping wife

"I shot my wife out of love," the accused told the judges. He had wanted to spare her the loss of her home.

The couple were in dire financial straits, which the husband concealed from his wife. Instead, early one morning in March 2024, he approached his sleeping wife's bed with an army pistol and killed her with two shots to the head.

Forced deportation was imminent

16 days earlier, the accused had been ordered by the Frauenfeld district court to vacate the detached house. On the day of the crime, he was threatened with forced expulsion from the property due to his financial difficulties.

His wife loved the house and her garden. "The situation tore me apart," says the man. He couldn't bring himself to tell her that she would have to give it up. The man cried several times during the interrogation. He hoped that people could understand what he had done. He was sorry.

Talked to no one

His plan to kill himself after killing his wife also failed. In an email to his brother that morning, he described his hopeless situation. He finally alerted the police who, after a lengthy intervention, were able to dissuade the man from his suicide plan and arrest him.

The woman had to die because her husband could not bear to explain his financial ruin to her, said the public prosecutor.

The man had even redirected his wife's mail to a post office box operated by him in order to conceal her desperate financial situation, the prosecutor continued. He had not spoken to anyone about it and had not requested help from anyone. He had taken his wife's life even though she had done nothing to him.

Lawyer pleaded manslaughter

The man's actions were not an execution, but "the most humane way under the circumstances", explained the man's lawyer. He pleaded manslaughter instead of intentional homicide. The prison sentence should be set at three years.

His client had been in an exceptional mental state, under psychological pressure. "He was only able to control his behavior to a limited extent." At the same time, the woman was terminally ill, which was confirmed by an autopsy.