Translated from German
After 18 months of trial, the three accused walk to freedom. The evidence in the Locke trial was also no longer sufficient for the public prosecutor’s office.
The murder of bouncer “Locke” from the Soda Club in Prenzlauer Berg goes unpunished: three accused rockers of the Hells Angels have been acquitted after 18 months of trial. There is not enough evidence against them.
That means: The real soda killer is still running around freely!
THE MURDER
September 1, 2013, a Sunday. At 5.23 a.m. shots rang out in the Kulturbrauerei on Schönhauser Allee. Meet bouncer Sebastian K. (39), who is bald, so friends jokingly call him “Locke”. He’s standing alone in front of the soda club, there’s still a party inside. “Locke” is 1.90 meters tall, weighs 150 kilos, and has a tattoo. No connections in the rocker milieu, but a trained bookbinder.
THE THREE ACCUSED
According to allegations, ex-elite soldier René P. (32) shot, forest manager Dennis S. (30) confessed to Schmiere, body builder Thomas F. (33) drove the getaway car. Motive: revenge, two weeks earlier bouncers from the soda club had beaten rockers from the Hells Angels from the court.
On April 1, 2014, two suspects were arrested by a special task force (SEK) on Reinickendorfer Meteorstraße, the third surrendered voluntarily. René P. has been in custody the longest. Shortly before Christmas 2015, however, he too will be released after 629 days.
THE EVIDENCE
Witnesses saw a man dressed in black sitting on a step in the courtyard, but not his face. A surveillance video only shows the victim staggering . It takes a long time to reconstruct the trajectories. A cigarette butt with the DNA of René P lies where the murderer was. It was only found nine days after the murder, how long it had been there remains unclear.
THE CROWN
Kassra Z. (29), rocker dropout and co-defendant in the betting shop murder of a rocker who is hostile to the Hells Angels (26). There he weighs ten rockers around the godfather Kadir Padir (31) heavily, and does not spare himself either. But he is only a witness to the bouncer murder , from hearsay.
In the sauna of the Artemis brothel, René P. is said to have boasted after the fatal shots in front of the soda club that he wanted to have “Filthy Few” tattooed on his chest. “Dirty few” is only allowed to someone who has killed you.
But at that time there was an “operation on the anus” by P., says the judge: “Then he should have been in the sauna with a drainage on the anus.”
The public prosecutor’s office no longer saw the evidence as sufficient, and applied for an acquittal itself .
Two of the rockers were convicted after all
Three years in jail for René P. (32), two years and ten months for Dennis S. (30). Against the soda murder, where they were threatened with life, the rockers, who have often been convicted of bodily harm and coercion, get off lightly here. The charges of robbery and assault had been tried in addition to the soda murder.
On October 7th, 2013 René P. delivered his friend Dennis to robbery! The prostitute had a client give her 15,000 euros for plastic surgery.
René P. picked her up at 9 p.m. at Alexanderplatz. In Pankow she was intercepted by Dennis S. on the doorstep. He punched her fist in the face. Stepped on her as she was holding her purse with the money.
In court, Dennis S. wore an Adidas sports jacket with gold stripes like in the robbery – it was his birthday.
Thomas F. receives 12,000 euros in compensation
► The results of the investigation fill 40 volumes of files.
► Negotiations have taken place on 60 days since September 2014.
► 122 witnesses and various experts were heard.
► The acquitted Thomas F. receives 12,000 euros as compensation (25 euros per day) for 480 days of pre-trial detention. René P. was actually imprisoned for 629 days, but does not get a cent because he was convicted for the attack on his girlfriend, the pre-trial detention is simply counted towards the prison sentence.
► The murdered man’s mother and two sisters were joint plaintiffs and remain at their expense.
