German ‘death whisperer’ on trial for persuading vulnerable women to take their own lives

The trial is taking place in the historic city of Limburg (file photo)

Credit: FREDERIK VON ERICHSEN/ DPA

A man went on trial for murder in Germany on Tuesday on charges of talking a vulnerable woman into taking her own life.

The 61-year-old man, named only as Brunhold S, under German law, is also accused of the attempted murder of two other women he sought to talk into committing suicide.

Although he did not take any physical action against the woman, he is charged with murder and attempted murder under German law and faces a possible whole life tariff.

Nicknamed the “Death Whisperer” by the German media, Brunhold S is accused of seeking out vulnerable and suicidal women on self-help forums.

Prosecutors allege he encouraged them to take their own lives in order to satisfy his own sexual desires.

The trial has been moved to a tent because of coronavirus restrictions

Credit: THOMAS FREY/AFP

In 2012, he is accused of contacting a woman who was suffering from borderline personality disorder and experiencing suicidal thoughts.

Prosecutors allege he sought to persuade her to come to him and told her he would help her end her life painlessly.

The woman’s mother was able to contact police before Brunhold S could lure her to her death.

In July 2015 he is accused of contacting another woman over the internet and spending a week speaking to her by phone and online chat, seeking to persuade her to take her own life.

She only backed out at the last minute, after she had stripped and was about to hang herself with a belt.

In 2016, a 23-year-old nurse at a care home for the elderly named only as Katharina L was found hanged from the door of her room. She had been suffering from depression following the death of her father. 

Prosecutors allege Brunhold S spent two weeks grooming her to take her own life. She spent the last moments of her life in a 25-minute Skype call with Brunhold S, in which prosecutors allege he gave her directions on how to hang herself.

There are no pleas in the German legal system and Brunhold S did not make any statement on the opening day of the trial.

He is already serving a 7-year sentence for the attempted murder of another woman. If found guilty of murder he faces a life sentence, and prosecutors have said they will seek a whole life tariff with no possibility of parole.