Murder Trial of Fabian: Forensic Pathologist Describes Autopsy at Rostock Regional Court

According to the presented results, the boy died from blood loss due to six stab wounds. The experts found no signs of defensive injuries. The presumed murder weapon is a knife with a single-sided blade, a blade length of ten to fifteen centimeters, and a width of about two centimeters; the weapon has not yet been recovered. The forensic examination, according to the expert report, was significantly hampered by post-mortem heat damage because the body had been set on fire after death. The medical examiner explained that the body had been engulfed in flames immediately after the boy's death.

Dispute Over Public Access

At the same time, the chamber, presided over by Judge Holger Schütt, dealt with a motion filed by the victim's mother, who is appearing as a co-plaintiff. Her lawyer had requested that the public be excluded for the duration of the forensic expert's testimony, citing the post-mortem right to privacy as an expression of the protection of human dignity. The public's interest, she argued, must take a backseat to this. The prosecution opposed this motion.

Judge Schütt rejected the request for exclusion. He stated that while there is a protectable interest even after death, in this case, it is only minimally infringed by the examination of the expert's images. The images of the boy's severely burned body had already been shown on previous court days and were therefore already known to the public, said Judge Holger Schütt. The chamber announced that it would make a final decision on whether spectators and media representatives would be allowed to remain in the courtroom only shortly before the expert was called. In the event of public exclusion, the closing arguments of the prosecution and defense would likely also be held in private.

Crime Scene and Motive

The focus of the court day also included traces at the presumed crime scene. Several shoe prints were secured at the edge of the pond near Klein Upahl, which could match shoes like those Fabian was wearing. The prosecution interpreted this as an indication that the boy was still moving independently by the water and had not been brought there lifeless from another location. Experts were also summoned for Thursday to testify about fire traces at the discovery site.

The background to the indictment, according to the investigators, is the defendant's motive. The 30-year-old Gina H. allegedly believed that Fabian stood in the way of a reconciliation with Fabian's father; the man had separated from her in August 2025. According to this interpretation, the woman lured the boy from his mother's apartment in Güstrow, killed him near Klein Upahl, and then set the body on fire. Four days after his disappearance, she coincidentally reported the body during a walk. Gina H. was arrested in November 2025 and is in custody on charges of treacherous murder.

A 30-year-old woman, who has remained silent on the allegations so far, is charged with murder. She was in an on-off relationship with Fabian's father and knew the boy well. The proceedings at the Rostock Regional Court have been conducted publicly for weeks; a verdict is still pending. Should the chamber exclude the public from parts of the further evidence presentation, the subsequent closing arguments would also not be public.

The trial is considered one of the most high-profile criminal proceedings in the region in years. Observers expect the forensic evidence presentation to take several more court days before the chamber enters the final phase of the proceedings.