For compensation for pain and suffering

Peggy (9) murder case: mother sues ex-suspect

The Peggy case is one of the most spectacular criminal cases in Germany: the then nine-year-old girl disappeared without a trace in May 2001 on her way home from school in Lichtenberg in Upper Franconia (Hof district). It was not until 2016 that Peggy's body was discovered in a wooded area in Thuringia on the border with Bavaria. A perpetrator has still not been found.

Almost 23 years after the girl's disappearance, the Hof district court heard a claim for damages brought by her mother on Thursday. It is directed against a former suspect in the case. The man had stated during police questioning in 2018 that he had taken Peggy's body to a wooded area in May 2001. He had previously taken the girl's lifeless body from another man at a bus stop in Lichtenberg, he testified at the time. A short time later, the man's lawyer accused the police of putting pressure on the then 41-year-old. The police denied this, but the man recanted his confession and was released.

Mother sues ex-suspect for compensation for pain and suffering
The mother of the girl who was killed is now accusing the man of having been in the dark about the whereabouts of her child for 15 years because of him and of having suffered psychological damage as a result. She is demanding compensation of at least 75,000 euros - she wants 5,000 euros for each year of uncertainty.

The man again denied the allegations on Thursday and stated that the information he gave to the police at the time was false and had only come about under pressure. The man's lawyer requested that the case be dismissed as unfounded.

No decision yet
A decision has not yet been made. The court set a hearing date for May 22. By then, the chamber will decide whether further evidence needs to be taken or whether a decision will be announced immediately.

A final clarification of Peggy's murder is also not to be expected from the proceedings. Just a few years after the girl's disappearance, a mentally disabled man from Lichtenberg was convicted as Peggy's murderer in 2004; he was released in a retrial ten years later. After the 41-year-old man was no longer suspected of the crime in 2018, the public prosecutor's office closed the investigation in October 2020. In April 2021, the girl's mortal remains were buried in a secret location.