Testimony concerning the murder of Theodoros Boulgarides was as expected – many photos of the crime scene and the apartment, a thorough explanation of the fatal wounds inflicted, an explanation by a weapons expert that the three shots had been fired from the by now well-known Ceska pistol.

By contrast, the questioning of a police officer who had investigated the Yozgat murder case in Kassel showed quite clearly why Nazis were able to kill ten persons without the police even considering a racist or Nazi motive:
In September 2013, more than seven years after the murder of Halit Yozgat, a police officer sits in court and explains in a chipper tone that the relationship of his investigation group to the victim’s family had been just great, that the family had always been very open towards them. That the investigation was conducted primarily against the family, that the telephones of all family members were tapped, that even an undercover investigator was used – all this does not seem, in the mind of this witness, to contradict his story in any way, nor does it seem to be a reason for him to feel regret for the inadequate way he handled the investigation.

A victim’s counsel representing the family relates that the victim’s father had complained to a police officer of Turkish descent, asking that the police stop treating the family as suspects and stating his conviction that his son as well as the other victims had been killed for xenophobic motives. He had stated that he was unable to see any other possibility, that it could only be a madman randomly killing foreigners.

The witness replies that he cannot recall any memo written by that colleague. Also, he claims that Mr. Yozgat had never said something to that effect to him. “Why don’t you ask Mr. Yozgat”, he asks the attorney, after all the relationship of the police and Mr. Yozgat had always been very good.

And what’s more, the witness claims, of course the police had investigated in all possible directions. Upon being asked what investigations had been conducted into a possible racist motive, he stammers: well, they had asked about brawls at the victim’s school that could have been due to racist motives, and they had even talked to a friend of the victim’s. There had also been some clue concerning Iraqi Kurds. But they had not found any reason to consider a religious/political motive for the crime.

It is apparent that until this day, the officer has not realized that his investigative group “Café” has hindered rather than helped in elucidating the background to this crime.

It is likely that his insolent explanation may only serve as a taste of what is to come next week. After all, next week’s trial will see the testimony of Andreas Temme, an officer of the domestic secret service (“Office for the Protection of the Constitution”) who was present at the crime scene at the time of the murder.