Investigations by Nuremberg Detectives in Stalking Cases | Harassment: A Catastrophic State of the Case Law

Judicial Restrictions on Perpetrators Only After Escalation

When Kurtz Investigations Nuremberg commenced operations ten years ago, stalking had only been a criminal offence for six years (§ 238 of the German Criminal Code, “Nachstellung”). When confronted with the accounts of stalking victims, it quickly became clear to us that this still very young criminal offence fell far short of what was required and that countless injured parties continued to feel abandoned by the justice system. In 2017, an important amendment to the stalking provision was introduced, focusing primarily on offences committed using new digital means of communication. However, this change was not suitable to finally address the core problem adequately. As is so often the case in Germany, a stalking incident near Regensburg (Alteglofsheim) first had to escalate to a life-threatening level before the perpetrator was sentenced, following the legislative amendment, to one year and nine months’ imprisonment – suspended, no less. At the time of sentencing, the then 30-year-old student had already been harassing a young woman, Doris Englbrecht, since 2009, repeatedly seeking her proximity against her will. In 2012, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. In 2014, he was convicted for the first time, receiving a suspended sentence for an assault on Ms Englbrecht. On New Year’s Eve 2016/17, he finally broke into the parental home of his object of obsession, masked and armed with an axe, under the influence of one litre of vodka and orange juice. Ms Englbrecht was not present at the time, but her father stabbed the intruder in self-defence with a folding knife as the assailant approached him. During the struggle, not only was the stalker seriously injured to the chest, shoulder and arms, but the father also sustained a neck wound close to the carotid artery, a severed submandibular salivary gland and injuries to his hands. Even stern TV reported on the case one year later and again at the end of 2021.

 

In determining the sentence, the perpetrator benefited from his alcohol-induced disinhibition, his severe injuries and his forensically confirmed stalking disorder. While the affected family subsequently required psychological care, the perpetrator remained at liberty and repeatedly breached his probation conditions without any consequent imprisonment. Although Ms Englbrecht had suffered from the harassment for years, the courts demonstrated impotence beyond imposing contact bans, exclusion orders and warnings. Yet it has been well established for decades that stalkers cannot simply be dismissed as harmless eccentrics: in around 20 per cent of documented cases, physical violence is inflicted on victims, who are female in around 80 per cent of cases. The consequence of lax prosecution of stalkers is evident: following the public attention surrounding his actions, the same perpetrator from Bavaria selected a new victim and was convicted again in 2020 – once more receiving only a suspended sentence. In view of such events, which regrettably stand out less due to any exceptional severity than because of their public visibility, many victims feel abandoned by the justice system. The work of our private detective agency in Nuremberg offers them an alternative – at least to obtain court-admissible proof of the offences. One thing is also clear: not only do most stalkers escape with absurdly lenient judicial decisions, but even at the stage of case intake at local police stations, there is often an attitude that makes it difficult for victims to feel taken seriously.

Original stern TV Report from 2017 (German only):

What Is Stalking and What Can Be Done About It?

The term “stalking” originates from English and, more specifically, from hunting terminology, where it roughly means “to creep up on”. The famous deerstalker hat, known from numerous Sherlock Holmes adaptations (although never explicitly mentioned by Holmes’ creator Arthur Conan Doyle), is literally intended to enable the wearer to approach red deer unnoticed. Stalkers are individuals who obsessively pursue, harass, threaten or, in the worst cases, injure another person. In more than 80 per cent of cases, stalking arises from some form of interpersonal relationship, for example former partners or colleagues, friends or neighbours, patients or clients. The perpetrators are usually men, the victims usually women, and the average duration of stalking is approximately 28 months, according to various law-enforcement authorities and a study by the Technical University of Darmstadt. Every eighth German will be a victim of such persecution at least once in their lifetime. For years, our private detectives from Nuremberg have been committed to supporting stalking victims in criminal proceedings, giving them a chance to regain the ease and sense of security that stalkers have taken from them.

 

To prove that the offence of stalking – officially “Nachstellung” – has occurred, all contact attempts (letters, SMS messages, emails, voicemail messages, etc.) should first be meticulously documented. After all, as courts frequently argue, an annoying admirer is not necessarily an obsessive stalker. In other words, the burden of proof always lies with the victim. And this is precisely where our Nuremberg detectives come into play (more on our methods below). Once the offence has been established, contact bans can be imposed, prohibiting the stalker from contacting the victim by telephone or other means and rendering any approach punishable by law – at least in theory. In practice, however, many police officers, public prosecutors and judges feel their hands are tied unless physical violence has already occurred.

When the Victim Is a Man – Even a Solicitor Is Powerless

How far legislation lags behind the reality of stalking is illustrated by the case of a Nuremberg solicitor who, despite all his specialist knowledge, found no way to rid himself of his female stalker. Hannes W. was harassed by the same woman for more than 20 years. She had approached him in the early 1990s as a potential client and became so intrusive that he was forced to terminate the client relationship. For several months thereafter, he received abusive and incoherent letters from her, until the correspondence ceased. As a lawyer, W. naturally knew what steps he could take: he obtained a contact and proximity ban and documented every letter, call and message, just as our private detectives in Nuremberg strongly advise their clients to do.

 

More than ten years later, in 2008, abusive letters reappeared, along with calls to the law firm and unwanted gifts from a woman who imagined herself to be the solicitor’s wife. She sent worn underwear and was suspected of removing post from the firm’s letterbox and placing it in others. At least two other lawyers in Franconia were also harassed by the same perpetrator. Yet legally there was no remedy: proceedings initiated by Hannes W. were discontinued twice, on the grounds that the woman was mentally ill but not dangerous. As there were insufficient indications of danger to others or to herself, involuntary commitment was not an option. The affected lawyers were left with little more than the hope that the woman would eventually desist. In such cases, we as detectives in Nuremberg must honestly concede that we would probably be of limited assistance. After all, there was no lack of evidence fulfilling the elements of the offence of stalking – what was lacking was consistent prosecution in Germany.

What Do Detectives Do in Stalking Cases?

Due to the sheer volume of stalking cases (around 20,000 reports per year, with an estimated dark figure of up to one million), the police are unable to provide personal protection or conduct time-intensive investigations for every individual case. And even if they could: fewer than three per cent of registered perpetrators are charged, a paltry one to two per cent are convicted, and as the Doris Englbrecht case illustrates, even convictions usually offer no effective protection for victims – not even in the short term. What, against this backdrop, can skilled detectives such as those at our Nuremberg private detective agency achieve? Above all, we bridge the threshold that is so often cited as an obstacle to charges and convictions: we provide court-admissible proof of stalking offences. Not only do we assist, where required, with the identification and securing of existing evidence, we also expand it through surveillance – usually of the client, i.e. the victim. This approach could be described as counter-stalking: by accompanying the victim, all pursuers can be identified and visually documented. In cases of imminent danger, our private investigators can intervene immediately, thereby preventing further escalation. There are also cases in which it is more appropriate to place a specific property under surveillance in order to establish stalking incidents in the victim’s absence. Furthermore, at the explicit request of the client, we may confront perpetrators through a formal risk address, where appropriate in conjunction with a psychotherapist.

 

We are also happy to arrange personal protection for victims of stalking; however, in a society that considers itself progressive, this should of course not be a permanent solution. Ultimately, victims wish to live a normal life again, free from constant fear of attacks and harassment. Another option for regaining a degree of personal security is the installation of video systems and motion detectors. In this area, too, the experts in evidence preservation from our corporate investigation unit in Nuremberg, throughout Franconia and Bavaria, as well as nationwide and internationally, are at your disposal. All further details are best discussed with you personally, so that we can respond optimally to your individual case.

Engaging Kurtz Investigations Nuremberg in Stalking Cases

The stalking case of Doris Englbrecht described above is just one of countless examples demonstrating how the German justice system fails to strike a balance between victim protection and an – in principle commendable – consideration of perpetrators’ individual circumstances. In practice, victims far too often suffer restrictions that are grossly disproportionate to the measures imposed on perpetrators by the courts. To return to the etymology of the term “stalking”: in English, one might describe the German judiciary’s excessive empathy with perpetrators as “overdoing it”. This phenomenon currently contributes significantly to the polarisation of German society.

 

If you or a loved one are the victim of a stalker and require court-admissible documentation, you can engage our private detectives in Nuremberg at any time for one or more assignments. We offer surveillance, digital and analogue research, on-site investigations (often involving legend building), the arrangement of personal protection and much more. You can reach us at any time via our contact form, by email (kontakt@kurtz-detektei-nuernberg.de) and – during our business hours, Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 20:00 – by telephone on +49 911 3782 0154.

Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

 

Editor: Patrick Kurtz  

 

Kurtz Detective Agency Nuremberg

Äußere Bayreuther Straße 59

D-90409 Nuremberg

Tel.: +49 911 3782 0154

Email: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-nuernberg.de

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