Man convicted of killing German ex-leader’s son found dead
Apr 21, 2022, 4:20 PM | Updated: Apr 22, 2022, 4:21 am
BERLIN (AP) — A man who was convicted of killing the son of former German President Richard von Weizsaecker in 2019 has been found dead at the psychiatric facility where he was sent, prosecutors said Friday.
The German man, who has been identified only as Gregor S. due to local privacy rules, was convicted of murder and attempted murder in July 2020 and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
Berlin prosecutors said he was found dead on April 18 in his hospital room at the psychiatric unit, German news agency dpa reported. There was no detail on the cause of death, but they said there was no indication that anyone else was involved.
Fritz von Weizsaecker, a doctor, was stabbed to death in November 2019 while delivering a lecture on liver disease at a clinic in Berlin. An off-duty police officer who tried to stop the attack was seriously injured.
Prosecutors said at the time of the trial that the defendant had acted out of hatred for the former German president, who died in 2015, blaming him for the use of the chemical known as “Agent Orange” during the Vietnam War.
Richard von Weizsäcker once worked for a German chemical company the killer believed had helped produce the defoliant widely used by U.S. troops during the conflict. The chemical has been blamed for health problems among those exposed to it.
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