German couple sentenced for killing Ukrainian refugee woman to steal her child

Berlin [Germany], February 11: An infertile couple in Germany murdered two Ukrainian refugee women to kidnap a newborn baby with the intention of taking it as their own.
A court in Germany on February 10 sentenced a couple to life in prison for killing a Ukrainian refugee woman and her mother and kidnapping their newborn daughter, with the intention of kidnapping her as their own.
The couple, identified in German media as Marco O. (43) and his wife Ina (45), were arrested in March, a week after two women were beaten to death.
Judges in the city of Mannheim noted the seriousness of the crimes in the case, making it unlikely that the two defendants will be released early after serving at least 15 years of their sentences.
Prosecutors said the couple were motivated by a "long-unfulfilled desire to have a daughter." They began preparing to kidnap a child to adopt as their own in March 2023.
The wife joined a group on the messaging app Telegram dedicated to helping Ukrainians fleeing Russia's military campaign. Through the chat, the couple got in touch with a 27-year-old Ukrainian woman, Margarita R., who was pregnant and needed help with translation.
Shortly after the baby, named Mia, was born, the German couple reportedly hosted a dinner with the Ukrainian woman, her 51-year-old mother, Maryna S., and the newborn.
During the meal, the couple gave the victim a sedative. When the older Ukrainian woman began to feel unwell, the couple offered to drive her to the hospital and take the younger Ukrainian woman and the baby home.
The German man took the older woman to a lake, beat her to death with a stick and dumped her body in the water. The couple then told the younger woman that her mother had suffered a heart attack and was in hospital.
Instead of taking the woman and her child to hospital, the couple took them to an area along the Rhine near Hockenheim, where the German man killed the 27-year-old woman with "at least three" blows to the head.
The couple then burned the body and drove home with the baby girl, who was five weeks old at the time. Police found the infant unharmed. The girl, now one year old, is being raised by her aunt and uncle who live in Ukraine, Bild reported.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper