The flatmates got into an argument over a dirty kitchen and swapped name stickers.
Keystone-SDA
Following a fatal dispute over a dirty kitchen, the Dielsdorf District Court in canton Zurich has sentenced a 28-year-old Eritrean man to ten years’ imprisonment. The judges classified the fatal stabbing of his flatmate as murder.
The judges essentially upheld the charges. The prosecution had sought a 15-year prison sentence for intentional homicide and a 15-year ban from the country. The court set the sentence at ten years and banned the man from the country for 12 years.
The offence took place on June 14, 2025, in Oberglatt. The flatmates got into an argument over a dirty kitchen and swapped name stickers. The defendant stabbed the 18-year-old victim with a paring knife, severing his heart and aorta; the victim bled to death.
The defendant claimed self-defence and denied having stabbed the victim. After the offence, he fled to France via Germany. A month later, he turned himself in to the police in Zurich. The defence had argued that his actions constituted excusable excessive self-defence.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
