A man who spent years secretly poisoning his co-workers sandwiches has been jailed for life in Germany.
57-year-old Klaus O. was this afternoon found guilty of attempted murder at Bielefeld District Court in northwest Germany.
He was also found guilty of multiple counts of bodily injury.
Deutsche Welle reports that one of the man’s co-workers at a metal fitting company in Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock became suspicious after discovering a white substance in his sandwich last year.
Management then installed a video surveillance system and observed him taking sandwiches out of worker’s bags and sprinkling powder over them.
The entrance to Bielefeld District Court in North Rhine-Westphalia, 15-11-2018.At first, staff at the factory thought it was a poor practical joke.
That was until police discovered a makeshift lab at his home containing lead acetate, cadmium, lead and mercury.
Trace amounts of other chemicals were found on his computer.
The court heard a number of the victims had become increasingly ill over the years – with conditions including kidney disease.
One man could not take part in the trial as he is now in a permanent vegetative state.
The defendant remained silent throughout the trial, speaking only once at the end.
However, a prison psychologist who interviewed him told the court that he “seemed to me like a scientist who was testing substances on a guinea pig.”
