….Court orders preventative detention for horror house abuser
A man accused of repeatedly abusing women, in his house in western Germany is to be placed in preventative detention after serving his prison sentence.
Two of the women have died as a result of the abuse. The man, named only as Wilfried W under German privacy laws, is considered dangerous, the Paderborn Regional Court said on Thursday.
The court agreed with the assessments of two psychiatric experts who had examined the man and said it considered the risk of recidivism to be high.
The forensic experts attested to the man’s great manipulative skills and criminal intelligence, lack of empathy, and callousness.
For years, the man had been alleged to have tormented several women in his house, dubbed the “house of horrors” in the western German town of Höxter.
The man and his ex-wife, who was also convicted, beat, scalded, and tied up their victims and forced them to submit to a rigid set of rules.
Two of the victims died completely emaciated after months of abuse.
He was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2018; the ex-partner was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Unlike his ex-wife, the court at the time categorized the man as having reduced culpability.
During the trial, an expert had denied that he was able to distinguish between good and evil.
The court agreed and sent the man to a psychiatric ward. However, doubts soon arose about this assessment.
In 2020, a court categorised him as capable of guilt and had him placed in a regular penal institution.
The public prosecutor subsequently applied for him to be placed in a preventive detention after his release from prison.(dpa/NAN)
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….Court orders preventative detention for horror house abuser