Offense in Olten Man confesses to killing after "Kafi Schnaps" - and has to answer for it
In Olten, the Federal Supreme Court has confirmed the confession of a man who killed an acquaintance in 2015. Despite consuming "Kafi Schnaps", he was deemed fit for questioning according to the court.
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- A man was killed in Olten in 2015 and the perpetrator was convicted after an undercover investigation.
- He wanted to challenge his confession due to drinking "Kafi Schnaps".
- However, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that he was fit to be questioned despite possible intoxication and that the confession remained valid.
Almost ten years after the death of a 49-year-old man in Olten, the Federal Supreme Court has ruled that the confession of the convicted perpetrator remains valid despite his consumption of alcohol.
The man was found dead in a one-bedroom apartment on December 20, 2015. The Solothurn public prosecutor's office suspected an acquaintance of the victim, with whom he had allegedly traded drugs. As the investigation stalled, the authorities deployed three undercover investigators, as reported by the "Beobachter".
After two years of surveillance, the suspect confessed to the crime. The Solothurn High Court sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment for intentional homicide, among other things.
He appealed against this to the Federal Supreme Court - arguing that he was "tipsy" at the time of the confession. According to the ruling, the investigators also confirmed that the man had drunk "Kafi Schnaps", but that they had not offered him the drink.
Court rejects the appeal
The Federal Supreme Court stated: "Not every intake of alcohol necessarily renders a statement unusable." The decisive factor was whether the interviewee could "grasp the facts of the case and recognize the implications of his statements". The actual state during the questioning and the behavior are decisive, according to the ruling.
In the present case, the man's recorded statements were usable, although it remained unclear exactly how high his blood alcohol concentration was. They did "not give the impression that his mental capacity had been influenced in any way by his alcohol consumption".
The court therefore dismissed the appeal. It also referred to previous cases in which it had classified people with 0.67 to 1.48 per mille as fit for questioning. "Kafi Schnaps" consumption therefore does not automatically invalidate a confession - especially as people do not usually drink "several coffees with schnapps", as the court noted.
