German neo-Nazi gang trial: Woman denies involvement in terror cell that murdered 10

National Socialist Underground (NSU) murdered eight Turks, a Greek and a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007

Rose Troup Buchanan
Wednesday 09 December 2015 15:13 GMT
Beate Zschaepe in court in Munich
Beate Zschaepe in court in Munich

A German woman accused of involvement in a neo-Nazi plot that killed 10 people has broken her silence to claim she had no knowledge of the attacks.

Beate Zschaepe, 40, claimed she was not a member of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) despite being romantically involved with two of its main members.

NSU murdered eight Turks, a Greek and a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007. Members of the group also conducted two bombings in immigrant areas of Cologne and 15 bank robberies.

Despite the attacks, they remained undetected by authorities for almost a decade.

"I was involved neither in the preparations, nor in the carrying out" of the murders, Ms Zschaepe said in the 53-page statement, read out to the Munich court by her lawyer.

She was linked to two of its main members, Uwe Boehnhardt and Uwe Mundlos, who killed themselves in an apparent suicide pact after police chanced upon the gang in 2011.

Ms Zschaepe – who maintains she was ignorant of the group’s motivations – said she met Boehnhardt on her 19th birthday but fell in love with Mundlos first.

In the statement, her first in two-and-a-half years, she claims to have been horrified when told of the first murders but failed to inform the police because the men threatened suicide and she was financially dependent on them.

Ms Zschaepe, who said she distracted herself by playing video games and drinking up to four bottles of sparkling wine every day, apologised to the families of victims.

"I feel morally guilty because I could not prevent ten murders and two bomb attacks," she said.

After the gang was exposed, Ms Zschaepe allegedly set fire to the flat she shared with the men and fled with her DVDs and cats before turning herself into police.

"It was very clear to me that I couldn't return to normal life," she added. "They didn't need me - I needed them."

Additional reporting by Reuters

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