Head found in the woods, the trial begins

Shortly afterwards, the 55-year-old woman's tenant was arrested. At the residence of the Ukraine-born accused, the police found the murder weapon and the suspect immediately admitted the facts.

The trial concerning a murder that took place in Bottighofen began today at the District Court of Kreuzlingen (TG). The defendant is a 55-year-old woman who allegedly shot a 63-year-old woman to death and then dismembered her body. Motives remain unclear.

The investigation began with a discovery that caused a sensation: in December 2020 hikers spotted a human head with a gunshot wound in a forest in Egnach, also in the Canton of Thurgau. DNA tests proved the identity of the victim: a 63-year-old woman from Bottighofen who was reported missing.

One of the main issues that will be addressed during the trial is motive. According to the prosecution, it is a long dispute due to outstanding rents, which escalated into an argument that broke out in the laundry room. It was there that the defendant first shot the victim in the back and then in the head.

She subsequently used a kitchen knife, garden tools, and a saw to dismember the victim's body and scattered it among various containers in Bottighofen. The head was buried in the woods.

Prosecutors' charges are intentional homicide and disturbing the peace of the dead. The requested sentence is 18 years in prison, as already announced last November. A three-day trial is scheduled for the trial.