A German who chopped off his 100-year-old grandmother’s head with an ax when she tried to fend him off with a vacuum cleaner is jailed for seven years
- Artur B, 37, cared for his grandmother but killed her with an ax in March
- According to a family member, he was considered the ‘black sheep’ of his family
- The former soldier has been sentenced to seven years in prison
A man who beheaded his 100-year-old grandmother with an ax as she cowered in her wheelchair has been jailed for seven years.
Ex-soldier Artur B., from Hamburg, Germany, was sentenced by the regional court on Thursday after being found guilty of attacking his grandmother Amalie G. with an ax and cutting off her head.
Retired farm worker Amalie G was found dead in her apartment in the German city after the attack by her 37-year-old grandson in March.
Coroners determined that Amalie was hit 16 times with the weapon as she unsuccessfully tried to defend herself with a cordless vacuum cleaner, and that she died when one strike severed her spinal cord.
Artur was arrested after calling the police to inform them of his crime.
After his arrest, Artur, who the court was told suffered from a personality disorder, consulted a psychiatrist and claimed he was struggling to care for his wheelchair-bound grandmother, who suffered from dementia.
Retired farm worker Amalie G was found dead in her apartment in the city of Hamburg after the attack by her 37-year-old grandson Artur B in March, investigators told the court
While awaiting trial after his arrest, Artur (this week on the left in court and right in the undated image), who according to German newspaper Bild had been treated and prescribed medication for mental health problems, consulted a psychiatrist and claimed he was struggling to to deal with his wheelchair. tied grandmother who suffered from dementia
Artur allegedly called the police to say he had beheaded his grandmother and officers discovered an ax at the crime scene
But a family member told Bild that Artur, a former soldier, was considered “the black sheep of the family” and that Amalie had routinely complained that he was stealing from her.
‘He was unemployed most of the time and constantly lacked money. Family members kept their distance from him,” the relative added.
According to the preliminary autopsy result, it can be assumed that transection of the cervix caused by sharp and blunt force was the cause of death. The suspected crime is an ax found at the crime scene,” Chief Public Prosecutor Liddy Oechtering said after the murder.
A neighbor of the murdered grandmother told Bild: ‘We actually had good contact before her death. Amalie told me that her grandson had already broken into the apartment through the balcony and wanted to steal her money.’
The neighbor said Artur regularly came to babysit his grandmother, but the couple often argued and was often loud enough to be overheard.
“The grandson regularly came to his grandmother’s apartment and took care of her. But there were still arguments.’
Family members speculated that a dispute over money escalated the situation the night of the murder. Artur reportedly called police to say he had beheaded his grandmother and officers discovered an ax at the bloody crime scene.
When asked by Bild, the public prosecutor said that Artur B had no criminal record.
According to information available to the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper, the man was only known to the police for minor crimes and there were no violent crimes.
Artur will testify in court in Hamburg on Monday.