Overview
- The Basel-Landschaft Criminal Court in Muttenz, which held closed hearings, set a May 13 verdict after closing arguments ended under tight restrictions.
- Prosecutors say Marc Rieben intentionally strangled Kristina Joksimovic during a dispute over her plan to divorce him and then dismembered her using tools, bleach and a blender.
- The defense concedes he caused her death but says he acted in self-defense against a knife attack and urges a far shorter sentence if judges deem it excessive force.
- Rieben apologized in court and said he paid money to his children and her parents, and relatives called his display crocodile tears and asked for the maximum sentence.
- Strict privacy rules kept the public out and limited media to a videolink, focusing attention on how Swiss courts shield graphic cases and on concerns about blaming victims in domestic violence trials.