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Man beats neighbour to death with snow shovel

A dispute over snow-clearing reached a tragic end when a man beat his neighbour to death with a snow shovel in North Rhine-Westphalia, police said Tuesday.

Published: 21 December 2010 09:01 CET
Updated: 21 December 2010 11:12 CET

Man beats neighbour to death with snow shovel

File picture of a snow shovel. Photo: DPA

In the town of Schnellenbach, a man named by daily Bild as Abdulbah I., 45, repeatedly hit his neighbour, 49-year-old Wolfgang K., with the shovel on Monday, according to police and the state prosecutor in Cologne.

Bild reported that the two men had repeatedly argued in recent days over whose responsibility it was to clear the snow on the common entrance to their properties. They were both shovelling snow yesterday afternoon when the attack happened about 1:30 pm Monday. A murder investigation has been established.

Abdulbah I. is married and a father of eight children, according to Bild. The victim was also a father.

The two men had been feuding for some time and had even gone before a court because of long-running disputes. The victim had to cross Abdulbah I.’s land to get to his own home, the Cologne daily Express reported. Wolfgang K. also reportedly often antagonized his murderer.

“Wolfgang provoked him frequently,” a neighbour told Bild.

The Local/dw

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Germany in talks on further payout for 1972 Olympics victims

Ahead of the commemoration in September, relatives of the Israelis killed have indicated they are unhappy with what Germany is offering.

“Conversations based on trust are taking place with representatives of the victims’ families,” a German interior ministry spokesman told AFP when asked about the negotiations.

He did not specify who would benefit or how much money had been earmarked, saying only that any package would “again” be financed by the federal government, the state of Bavaria and the city of Munich.

On September 5th, 1972, eight gunmen broke into the Israeli team’s flat at the Olympic village, shooting dead two and taking nine Israelis hostage, threatening to kill them unless 232 Palestinian prisoners were released.

West German police responded with a bungled rescue operation in which all nine hostages were killed, along with five of the eight hostage-takers and a police officer.

An armed police officer in a tracksuit secures the block where terrorists held Israeli hostages at the Olympic Village in Munich on 5th September 1972. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Horst Ossingert

The spokeswoman for the victims’ families, Ankie Spitzer, told the German media group RND that the amount currently on the table was “insulting” and threatened a boycott of this year’s commemorations.

She said Berlin was offering a total of €10 million including around €4.5 million already provided in compensation between 1972 and 2002 — an amount she said did not correspond to international standards.

“We are angry and disappointed,” said Spitzer, the widow of fencing coach Andre Spitzer who was killed in the attack. “We never wanted to talk publicly about money but now we are forced to.”

RND reported that the German and Israeli governments would like to see an accord by August 15th.

The interior ministry spokesman said that beyond compensation, Germany intended to use the anniversary for fresh “historical appraisal, remembrance and recognition”.

He said this would include the formation of a commission of German and Israeli historians to “comprehensively” establish what happened “from the perspective of the year 2022”.

This would lead to “an offer of further acts of acknowledgement of the relatives of the victims of the attack” and the “grave consequences” they suffered.

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