Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
Almost everyone knows the popular children’s song “Bake, bake a cake. The baker has called! Who wants to bake a good cake? You need seven ingredients.” According to the children’s song, these are eggs, lard, sugar, salt, milk, flour, and saffron, but certainly not sleeping pills. But this was allegedly an ingredient in a strawberry cake used to kill a man. The poisoned strawberry cake led to one of the most curious trials in recent years. It was May 13, 2020, when 39-year-old Nicole W. put a homemade strawberry cake in the refrigerator for her 65-year-old father-in-law, Andreas W., a retired bricklayer. Nicole herself had an important school appointment with her daughter, which is why she had to leave. Andreas cut himself a piece of the strawberry cake. However, his 63-year-old wife Monika W. warned him not to eat any of the cake, as his daughter-in-law and son wanted to kill him. Despite the current family dispute, Andreas thought it was nonsense. He devoured the first bite, but the second bite tasted bitter, so he immediately threw the cake into the organic waste bin. His 38-year-old son Rocco then gave him a glass of lemonade with a calcium tablet in it. As he sipped it, he noticed a bitter taste similar to that of the cake. Andreas felt dizzy and sat down on a chair. Then he blacked out. But he didn’t think anything of it. Andreas’ wife Monika was seriously ill and, shortly before her death on June 10, 2020, she turned herself in to the police. She testified that she had had the sleeping pill Zolpidem prescribed for her son and mother-in-law so that they could get her husband out of the way. There had been a big family dispute for some time over Rocco’s wife Nicole. She had once been her former tenant and was a hoarder. She had also asked for permission to open a brothel in Andreas W.’s house, which he had of course refused. Andreas W. was not very enthusiastic about Rocco’s new wife. Andreas W. was now living with his wife Monika in his son’s newly purchased house in Altenburger Kesselgasse, which Andreas had helped finance. When Nicole moved into the house, Andreas W. lost his temper, which led to his son and daughter-in-law giving the retired couple notice to leave. Andreas W. then reported his son and daughter-in-law to the police for attempted murder. Based on his late wife’s voluntary disclosure, charges of attempted murder were brought against them. The case went to trial at the Gera Regional Court. But the tide soon turned as the victim, Andreas W., repeatedly contradicted himself. In addition, according to the toxicologist, the dose was too low to cause the symptoms described by Andreas W. Furthermore, the evidence against the couple was insufficient, which is why they were acquitted. It was probably simply a vendetta by Andreas W. against his son and his son’s wife because they had evicted him from the house he had paid for. Unfortunately, the two parties are no longer in contact with each other.
