In Germany, a couple has confessed to the murder of Ukrainian refugees Marina Stetsenko and her 27-year-old daughter Margarita. The perpetrators intended to abduct the newborn child of the Ukrainian woman.
According to DW, the trial for this case began in Mannheim (Baden-Württemberg). The 45-year-old woman and her 43-year-old husband are charged with double murder and kidnapping of an infant. Today, January 7, the defendants' lawyers read their confessions, which also expressed remorse.
The prosecution established that the motive for the murders was the couple's desire to have a child. The victims were Ukrainian refugees – 51-year-old Marina Stetsenko and her 27-year-old daughter Margarita, who gave birth to a girl in February 2024. At the time of the crime, the infant was five weeks old.
The female suspect specifically joined a support group for Ukrainian refugees on Telegram to establish contact with her future victim, whom she reached out to in January 2024. According to media reports, the young Ukrainian was looking for a translator to assist her with the upcoming birth.
Just a week after the child was born, the couple decided to kill both women. On March 6, during dinner at a restaurant, the perpetrators laced their drinks with sedatives. When the Ukrainian women became ill, they claimed that Marina would be taken to the hospital, while her daughter and the newborn were taken home.
Then, 51-year-old Marina Stetsenko was driven to a lake in Bad Schönborn, where the man delivered fatal blows to her head. He likely dealt with the young mother in a similar manner, burning her body afterward. Following the murders, the couple took the infant and returned home.
The bodies of both victims were discovered during a police operation.
Currently, the girl, who is about 11 months old, is in Ukraine living with her aunt. She is the plaintiff in the case. The trial is expected to last nine days, with a verdict anticipated on February 21.
Murder of Ukrainians in Germany
Marina Stetsenko and her daughter Margarita were residing in a refugee center in the Rhine-Neckar district, having moved there from Ukraine to escape the war. Margarita's body was found on March 7 on the banks of the Rhine, while Marina's was discovered two weeks later, on March 20, near a lake close to Hockenheim.
At that time, news of the abduction of the newborn child emerged. The police arrested the suspects on March 13, 2024, after discovering the infant in their possession.