Neo-Nazi given life for German race murders

After a five-year trial, a member of a neo-Nazi gang has been found guilty of 10 racially-motivated murders.

Beate Zschäpe was the main defendant on trial over the murder of eight ethnic Turks, a Greek citizen and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007.

The verdict carries an automatic life sentence.

The connection between the murders was only discovered by chance in 2011, after a botched robbery led to the neo-Nazi group’s discovery.

Zschäpe shared a flat in the eastern town of Zwickau with two men, who died in an apparent suicide pact. The bodies of Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt were found in a burnt-out caravan used in the robbery.

Zschäpe, Mundlos and Böhnhardt had formed a cell called the National Socialist Underground (NSU). A fire at their home – apparently in an attempt to destroy evidence – led to Zschäpe turning herself in.

The NSU’s seven-year campaign exposed serious shortcomings in the German state’s monitoring of neo-Nazis, and led to a public inquiry into how police failed to discover the murder plot.

Four other defendants were also given jail terms for their role in helping the NSU gang:

• Ralf Wohlleben was sentenced to 10 years for aiding and abetting murder – he procured the silenced gun
• Carsten S, a juvenile at the time, was found guilty of handing the gang the pistol and silencer, and was given three years
• André E was given two years and six months for helping a terrorist group
• Holger G received three years for giving his birth certificate and other ID to Uwe Mundlos

Speaking ahead of the verdict, Zschäpe’s defense lawyer said she would appeal against any life sentence.

During the trial, Zschäpe denied taking part in the murders – but said she felt guilty for not doing more to stop them.

Why were the murders unsolved for years?

The NSU case covers 10 murders, two bomb attacks in Cologne and 15 bank robberies.

The murder victims were mainly ethnic Turks, shot during their working days with a CZ 83 handgun over the course of seven years.

Police had long suspected that the killers were ethnic Turks in the victims’ communities, earning them the nickname the “Bosphorus” murders after Istanbul’s famous river. The derogatory term “doner murders” – in reference to kebabs – was used by some parts of Germany’s press.

Neo-Nazi terror was overlooked, or perhaps deliberately ignored.

Germany’s fragmented policing system, with 16 different jurisdictions for the 16 states, may also have contributed to the intelligence failure.

One Greek victim, Theodoros Boulgarides, was also killed in 2005.

The final victim was Michèle Kiesewetter, a German policewoman, who was shot and killed while sitting in a patrol car on her break in 2007.

The link between the murders would only be discovered years later.

How was the NSU caught?

In 2011, an unusual DVD was received by some German press outlets.

It showed the iconic cartoon character the Pink Panther in a doctored cartoon, displaying messages from the NSU about the murders, along with spliced footage of the bombings.

On 4 November 2011, Mundlos and Böhnhardt robbed a bank in a German town, one of a string of similar heists. This time, police were able to follow them to a caravan they had hidden in.

Despite being armed, the pair did not put up any resistance – and were found dead inside. Investigators believe Mundlos shot Böhnhardt before killing himself.

Zschäpe, now the only surviving member of the NSU trio, apparently set fire to the apartment where all three had lived together in Zwickau. She turned herself in a few days later.

The fire damage to her home had not destroyed everything – and investigators found a copy of the Pink Panther DVD, linking the trio to the NSU name and the murders.

The suspected murder weapon – the Ceska pistol – was also found in the ruins.

The public now knew a neo-Nazi cell had operated with impunity for 11 years, murdering 10 people – and had remained unknown to police.

Widespread public outrage followed, along with a parliamentary investigation which demanded tighter surveillance of neo-Nazi activities.

In July 2015 the German parliament, or Bundestag, passed a set of reforms giving greater power to the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) to avoid a repeat of the failures in the NSU investigation.

It included key changes to the use of paid informants, known as “V-Leute,” to provide information about potential threats to internal security.