Photo: ZDF / Jasper Engel
- Jennifer and Janine: When a murder destroys childhood
- A young love ends in despair and brutality
- Looking for answers on ZDF
Jennifer and Janine: When a murder destroys childhood
20 knives in the chest, heart and back. The mother of Janine and Jennifer has murdered the father of the girls. Now the two are looking for answers.
How desperate must this woman have been? On July 12, 1996, Janine's and Jennifer's mother killed the girl's father with nearly 20 knives. The pictures of the crime scene show a lot of blood - and finally a tightly packed package, the father, wrapped in a sleeping bag, tied up with tape.
"When I see the crime scene photos, I think I'm in a thriller. Everywhere blood, blood spatter ... with what force was really there, and that of his own mother ... "Jennifer still can not believe what her mother did. And Janine also asks herself: "What kind of hatred must that have been?"
The two girls were in the apartment at the time of the act, at least Janine must have watched the murder, because later, in the home, she tells of nightmares, in which "Mom stabbed the dad a sword in the back".
A young love ends in despair and brutality
Review: Mother Iris is just 19 years old when she meets and loves Frank, who is two years older. Shortly after the marriage, Janine is born, followed by Jenny two years later. "At first I was fascinated by the strength that this man radiated, because as a young girl I felt very weak. I felt really great that I was the one he wanted. "
At first it was the big love, but Frank slips off, becomes criminal, he is unemployed, alcohol dependent and takes drugs. "My husband broke his cheekbone, jaw, arm, and ribs several times with kicks and punches, and I lost a child through him in the fourth month, " Iris said in an interview after the fact.
Dependence, desperation, brutality: after six years, the difficult relationship ends with the cruel murder. Iris kills her husband with almost 20 stab wounds in the chest, heart and back. Later, Iris tries to explain: "It takes a lot of fear, courage and despair to do such a thing, under normal circumstances, a person would never do that ..."
Her mother's terrible act was for Jennifer and Janine the beginning of a childhood without parents, in the home, in foster care, separate from each other. The mother was sentenced to 10 years in prison for murder.
No more parents from one day to the next, lonely hours in foster homes, plus the unconscious images of the dying father in my head - how did the girls manage this?
Janine rebelled, she started smoking at the age of eleven, drank alcohol, tried drugs. Jennifer was less noticeable. Her nurses sent her to swim training, which distracted her.
Today Janine and Jennifer are 20 and 21 years old. Only for three years, they see each other again. In the many years in between, they had no contact. Jennifer says, "I wish we could have a real sibling relationship again, but we missed a lot, so we're trying to catch up."
The knowledge of the mother's deed puts a strain on the two girls. Why did our mother kill our father? That's the question that bothers them every day. Her father is missing. The incomprehensible remains incomprehensible. That's why Janine and Jennifer went in search of answers together.
Looking for answers on ZDF
The ZDF program "Mama, why did you do that, when a murder destroys childhood" documents the search of the two. It will air on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 at 10:15 pm on ZDF. Afterwards, the program will be shown in the media library.
