Overview
- The case has begun at the Berlin Regional Court against a 68-year-old man, his 63-year-old wife, and a 56-year-old co-defendant, with hearings scheduled into early July.
- Prosecutors charge commercial theft and commercial receiving of stolen goods and seek to seize about €362,000 from the couple and about €350,000 from the 56-year-old.
- The indictment cites roughly 40 bronze statues, relief plates, and fence parts taken between 2021 and 2025, many weighing up to 150 kilograms, mostly from Berlin cemeteries but also from sites in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Brandenburg.
- According to the filing, the couple planned the thefts since at least 2018, with the man scouting and arranging heavy transport and his wife joining nighttime trips, after which works were offered to an alleged fence.
- The 56-year-old says he plans to make a statement on the trial’s second day, and a psychotherapist has judged him only partly fit to stand trial, leading to shorter sessions and breaks.