Couple in Germany Admits to Killing Two Ukrainian Women in Plot to Take Child

Following the March 2024 murders of two Ukrainian women in Germany, the accused couple admitted to the killings at the outset of their trial in Mannheim, SWR media outlet reported on January 7.

The German media revealed that the married couple from Sandhausen admitted to killing two Ukrainian women. The 43-year-old man and his 45-year-old wife intended to claim the younger victim’s child as their own. Both defendants are now on trial at the Mannheim Regional Court, facing charges of double murder and child abduction.

At the beginning of the trial, the couple’s lawyers read out a statement in which they expressed regret over the committed crimes. According to the public prosecutor’s office, their motive stemmed from an unfulfilled wish to have a daughter together.

The 43-year-old defendant provided a complete confession in court, acknowledging that he killed the two women with a rubber hammer. He then disposed of the murder weapon by throwing it from the Salier Bridge near Speyer into the Rhine.

“I can’t understand how I could have done something like this. I’m waiting for my just punishment. I consider myself disgusting,” he said.

The killed women were 51-year-old Ukrainian refugee Maryna Stetsenko and her 27-year-old daughter Marharyta.

Previously, the prosecution did not disclose the nationality or origins of the accused. However, German media have reported that the suspects are a Russian woman and a German man.

At the beginning of December, the Essen Regional Court in Germany sentenced four teenagers to imprisonment for the murder of 2 Ukrainian basketball players, Volodymyr Yermakov and Artem Kozachenko.