Man Burns 8-Month Pregnant Girlfriend Alive Because He Didn't Want to Be a Father
A young father who wanted to maintain his "free, happy life" was sentenced to 14 years in prison for burning his eight-month pregnant teenage girlfriend alive because he couldn't bear the thought of losing his freedom to fatherhood.
Eren Toben, 20, lured his 19-year-old girlfriend, Maria Peiner, into a wooded area in Berlin, Germany, before stabbing her with a bread knife and setting her alight, according to the Daily Mail. Toben's accomplice, Daniel Mueller, 20, was also sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Judge Regina Alex said it was the father-to-be who came up with the idea to get rid of his girlfriend so he could maintain his carefree life.
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"For him the crime was a solution, he wanted a free, happy life which he had control over," said Alex. "He abused Maria's love for him to lure her into an ambush."
According to the case against Toben, in January 2015, he lied to Maria when he told her they were going shopping for baby clothes. He drove the unsuspecting teenager to a wooded area on the outskirts of Berlin where he hit her with a piece of wood, stabbed her with a bread knife, poured petrol on her, then set her ablaze.
"She was still conscious, it could have been 10, 20, 30 seconds - she was still moving," Judge Alex said.
Maria's charred body was discovered by a walker a day after the incident and Toben and his accomplice were subsequently arrested.
Toben's fingerprints were found on the handle of the knife near Maria's burnt remains. Nevertheless, he and his accomplice blamed each other for Maria's murder after they were arrested but remained silent during their trial.
"He acted for the sole purpose of taking pleasure in the destruction of another human being's life," said Judge Alex of Mueller.
