The couple were known for their domestic spats but, in February 2015, one of their arguments turned fatally violent. On Tuesday, the court case against the victim's wife, who has been charged with manslaughter, began at a Luxembourg City court.
The defendant is a 47-year-old woman, who stabbed her husband three times in a domestic dispute in Mertert a little over four years ago. Two of the stab wounds the defendant inflicted on her husband were fatal.
On the woman's first day in court, the judge was presented with a one hour long video reconstruction of the crime.
The reconstruction video was taped in June 2015 at the home of the couple in Mertert. The woman recounted how her husband had woken her up by pulling her out of bed by her hair. The pair struggled in the kitchen and almost fell down the cellar stairs during their fight. The physical fight continued in the kitchen and in the living room, where the wife said to have been choked by her husband. He also allegedly hit her head against the floor.
The defendant then told the judge that she was beaten up by her husband in the kitchen again and that he pinned her against the floor. She managed to escape, but he yelled after her and threatened her, choking her again. The woman then stabbed her husband three times. The 47-year-old woman ran to hide the knife under her mattress before finding her husband, who had staggered outside, lying in front of the front door of their house.
According to another woman, who was at the house on that night, the defendant told her that she had killed her husband. The couple's neighbour, who had called the police in the early hours due to the commotion, saw the man lying in front of the house only about 15 minutes after his call.
The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy found three major stab wounds on the man's body. On in the chest area which had severed a main artery, an one on the back, which caused the man to bleed to death.
When he examined the defendant, she told the medical examiner that she suddenly had a knife in her hand. She said however that she didn't know what had happened to it. Alcohol played a huge part in the domestic dispute: The man had blood alcohol levels of 4.45 per mil while his wife had about 2 per mil.
The case will be tried over three sessions.
