Teens commit movie murder

2003-05-26 22:13

Neuruppin, Germany - A German teenager told on Monday how he re-enacted a scene from an adults-only Hollywood movie, American History X, forcing a schoolmate with a speech impediment to bite a stone and then bludgeoning him to death with a breeze block.

The 16-year-old victim had been drinking with the three accused late at night in the small eastern town of Potzlow when they began saying, "Admit you're a Jew."

At some point, Marinus Schoeberl said "Yes", and the others began hitting him. In the early hours they went back to the house, took him away to an isolated cowshed, tortured him and killed him, according to the confession. They hid the body in a manure pit.

Prosecutors allege Schoeberl was the victim of a neo-Nazi hate crime: his jackboot-clad, skinhead friends tagged him as "sub-human" because he had bleached hair, wore baggy "hip-hop" trousers and had a big nose and a speech impediment.

Defence lawyers say the youths are too ill-educated for political factors to count much. They contend the main motive was an urge by the three dropouts - two brothers and another 18-year-old - to impress one another.

Marcel S, the 18-year-old brother, was silent at the opening of the trial on Monday, but his lawyer read aloud a confession in which the youth said he had been playing out a scene from the 1998 movie, which is about the brutal subculture of US neo-Nazis.

Critics say less sophisticated viewers do not understand the film's anti-hate message and relish the graphic violence instead.

All three accused, who have since grown longer hair, admitted in court in Neuruppin to taking part in the murder 10 months ago.

The elder brother, Marco S, 24, said in a statement he wished he had not done it. He is already serving a sentence of two and a half years for beating up a black man who lived in a local refugee hostel.

Court officials say a verdict is expected June 18 after 10 days of hearings. - Sapa-DPA

- SAPA