Man in headscarf murder trial has history of schizophrenia

Nov 10, 2009, 16:00 GMT

   Dresden, Germany - A self-avowed racist who stabbed to death a pregnant Egyptian pharmacist was diagnosed with schizophrenia and exempted from Russian military service in the year 2000, according to a statement read out in his trial on Tuesday.

Alexander Igorevich Nelsin, born November 12, 1980, was treated for 'undifferentiated schizophrenia,' occurring in worsening episodes, according to the statement, faxed to Dresden by the Russian Attorney General.

Alex W is charged with the courtroom murder last July of Marwa al- Shirbini, 31, during an appeal hearing after he had been ordered to pay a fine for insulting the Egyptian mother at a playground last year.

   The case triggered outrage in Egypt, amid perceptions that al- Shirbini was killed because she regularly wore an Islamic headscarf.

Defence lawyer Veikko Bartel asked for the trial to be put on hold for a week while this new evidence was considered, but his request was denied.

Under the exclusion of the public, an expert psychiatrist was questioned about the new evidence. He had previously declared the defendant to be sane, and therefore fully responsible for his deeds in the same Dresden court on July 1.

The statement was faxed after the Dresden court had asked the Russian authorities why Alex W had been exempted from military service.

The 28-year-old had ended his treatment by 2004, when his medical records were destroyed. In 2003, Alex W moved from Russia to Germany, where he took on his German mother's surname.

The prosecutor called for Alex W to be given the highest penalty - life in jail - which is reserved for attacks of a heinous nature and those on unsuspecting victims. Germany has no death penalty.

   W is charged with the murder of al-Shirbini, the attempted murder of her husband, who was in Germany to pursue research, and causing dangerous bodily harm in the melee on July 1 before police could restrain him.

   A verdict had originally been scheduled for Wednesday, but the unexpected additional evidence from Russia may hold that up.