German worker sentenced to life in jail for injuring colleagues
BERLIN — A German man has been sentenced to life in jail — normally 15 years in Germany — after he poisoned the sandwiches of colleagues, resulting in critical injuries.
Identified as Klaus O., the 57-year-old was caught on surveillance camera putting a suspicious powder onto a co-worker’s sandwich at a business in Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock, leading to his arrest last May.
Similar actions by Klaus O. left one 23-year-old colleague in a coma with permanent brain damage after he ingested mercury.
Two other victims, ages 27 and 67, suffered serious kidney damage from lead and cadmium poisoning, and now face a heightened risk of cancer, according to the Associated Press.
A search of the accused’s home uncovered a primitive chemistry laboratory and a substance “more dangerous than all combat agents used in World War II,” said Judge Georg Zimmermann.
Klaus O. did not speak during his trial and his motives remain unclear.
