A man dubbed "Germany's first Internet murderer" was jailed for life on Tuesday for killing two women he had met on online dating sites.
Christian Grotheer from Hamburg had admitted killing the two women but claimed the first case was an accident and that in the second, seeing "the eyes of Jesus" had caused him to snap.
The 27-year-old went on dates with around 100 women he had met on Internet dating sites after portraying himself as a wholesome, normal guy who wrote poetry.
With the first woman, Grotheer got into a heated argument, during which he only "touched her on the throat" when to his horror the 26-year-old suddenly dropped dead, his lawyer had said when the trial started in January.
Her corpse was found 14 days later -- in such a state that the exact cause of death could not be determined.
In the second case, Grotheer said that after consensual sex, the mother-of-three had demanded money and had threatened to go to the police and accuse him of rape.
This was so traumatic, he said, that it made him recall seeing his father rape his mother when he was six years old. Grotheer then saw "the eyes of Jesus" and stabbed her, his lawyer said.
Grotheer wanted it stressed to the court that "except for these two, all the other 98 are still alive," his lawyer said, and was therefore not a serial killer.
{{/usCountry}}Grotheer wanted it stressed to the court that "except for these two, all the other 98 are still alive," his lawyer said, and was therefore not a serial killer.
{{/usCountry}}The court rejected claims that he was insane.