Murder trial over dead German on Mallorca: What really happened?

By Angelika Engler, Ralf Petzold

Palma de Mallorca - On the Spanish vacation island of Mallorca , the trial against two men for the death of a vacationer from Germany has begun . The two Spaniards are accused of throwing the 20-year-old from North Hesse out of a moving car onto a highway in October 2022.

The defense of the two explained in court that the man had jumped out of the van himself, as the newspaper "Diario de Mallorca" reported today, Wednesday.

The lawyers of the victim's family, however, spoke of "an intention to kill", according to the newspaper.

The young man had been run over by a car behind him while lying on the road. He died.

The public prosecutor's office and the lawyers of the victim's family are demanding a prison sentence of 25 years each. In addition, the two men are to compensate the relatives with almost 200,000 euros.

The man had been out partying with a friend on the Ballermann party mile in Palma that night, but the two then lost sight of each other in the hustle and bustle.

Investigators initially assumed that the German had strayed onto the highway after the night of partying in a drunken state.

However, investigations revealed that the route was too far for a pedestrian at the time.

Investigators were only able to track down the suspected perpetrators and their vehicle after analyzing camera footage. An eyewitness reported a white van from which the German was allegedly thrown onto the road.

The men were arrested in October 2023. The police have not ruled out the possibility that the accused wanted to rob their victim.

It is not yet clear how the 20-year-old got into the van. According to the defense, the two men wanted to take the tourist to his hotel and found him on the street.

Lawyers for the victim's family had originally said that the trial would begin on Thursday.

The trial is set to continue in the coming days and will last until December 9, according to the newspaper.