German Couple Admits to Double Murder of Ukrainian Women to Steal Baby

The pair confessed to killing a mother and grandmother in 2023, driven by an obsessive desire for a child, as their trial begins in Mannheim.

The couple, aged 43 and 45, admitted to killing a 27-year-old Ukrainian refugee and her 51-year-old mother to abduct the younger woman's infant daughter.
Prosecutors allege the murders were premeditated, motivated by the couple's long-standing unfulfilled wish for a daughter following failed fertility treatments and miscarriages.
The victims were lured under false pretenses, drugged, and killed using blunt force; the grandmother's body was disposed of in a lake, while the mother's body was burned to hinder identification.
The baby, unharmed, was found with the couple during their arrest in March 2023; she has since been returned to Ukraine to live with her aunt.
Lawyers for the victims' family are seeking life sentences with a determination of severe guilt, which would prevent early parole after 15 years.