The Tragic Death of Kamilla in Psychiatry - A Family's Call for Justice in Munich
- Approx. 3 Min Read
Parents' Persistent Inquiry - Seeking Understanding About Kamilla's Psychiatric Evaluation - Psychiatric hospital grief: Camilla's parents seek hospital intervention
Eleonora Nagy, choked back tears as she stated, "My kid was slaughtered by a monster." She's infuriated that the case seems to be treated as a mere footnote. "We demand justice," she insisted.
In 2022, Eleonora's 40-year-old daughter Kamilla was brutally murdered at a psychiatric hospital near Munich. A man, who had previously confessed to authorities that he had to kill someone and was subsequently admitted involuntarily, was the killer. He took Kamilla's life in her hospital room.
"The details surrounding this horrific act and why Kamilla was forced to die remain a mystery," says Jella von Wiarda, Kamilla's family's lawyer. The family has petitioned the Munich Higher Regional Court for a compulsory prosecution, aiming for a thorough, law-abiding investigation.
A court spokesperson confirmed receipt of the petition, with the Public Prosecutor General's Office now delving into the files. However, the timeline for making a decision on the petition is unclear at this juncture.
Confession: The Killer Subjected Kamilla to Torture and Murder
The man who murdered his fellow patient at the Isar-Amper Clinic later admitted in court that he had tortured Kamilla with a metal rod, strangled her with her sweater, and then set her on fire. His lawyer revealed that he had carried out the atrocious act because God supposedly commanded him to do so, as he believed Kamilla was a witch.
Nagy, Kamilla's mother, expressed her disbelief that "Kamilla wasn't a traffic accident victim on the street." Instead, she was "murdered in a sanctuary," where she aspired to heal.
Before committing the heinous act, the man had been admitted to the clinic just a few hours prior, after declaring that he had killed a dog on God's orders and planned to kill a person. According to von Wiarda, the man had driven a nail scissors into the armpit of his dog and then strangled it.
Within hours, he allegedly tore off the curtain rod in his bathroom and went to Kamilla's bathroom with it. The application asserts that he struck her head around 20 times with the rod before strangling her with a sweater and setting her on fire.
Why Wasn't Anyone There to Stop Him?
Lawyer von Wiarda questions, "How was this man able to roam freely through a closed psychiatric ward?" Unnoticed, he could have wielded the curtain rod freely. "He strolled through the ward corridors unnoticed with it," observes von Wiarda, in disbelief. It wasn't until the fire alarm rang that hospital staff reacted.
The duration of the attack remains unclear, with von Wiarda saying, "The length of this brutal act of violence is still unclear today."
Why was the man able to commit the attack unhindered? Why didn't anyone intervene? These questions continue to haunt the family of the deceased. Even the Munich I Public Prosecutor's Office has grappled with these questions in the past.
In 2022, the prosecutor's office launched an investigation against unidentified personnel to determine if criminal negligence by the treating doctors or nursing staff contributed to or even facilitated the attack, resulting in negligent homicide charges[1][2]. The suspicion: negligent homicide through omission.
The public prosecutor's office collected evidence, heard witnesses, and eventually discontinued the investigation in January of 2023. Their reasoning was, "No criminally relevant behavior could be established with the certainty required for a criminal trial." The General Prosecutor's Office in Munich denied a complaint against the discontinuation. The family received the negative decision on March 24.
The Isar-Amper Clinic declined to comment on the incident, nor would they discuss whether security measures have been tightened since then.
Not only did Kamilla's death occur as a result of the hospital's conditions, but the man who took her life also experienced a transformation from an unstable patient to a violent convict within the facility[1][2]. "I know she'll never smile at me again," acknowledges Eleonora Nagy, remembering her daughter in tears.
- Psychiatry
- Munich
- Death
- Patient
[1] Source: Heute.de[2] Source: Wirtschaftswoche
- The tragic death of Kamilla occurred in a psychiatric hospital near Munich, raising questions about community policy and hospital safety.
- Jella von Wiarda, Kamilla's family's lawyer, has petitioned the Munich Higher Regional Court for a compulsory prosecution, seeking a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Kamilla's death.
- The family is advocating for improved vocational training for healthcare professionals in mental health settings, such as psychiatric hospitals, to equip them better in managing and preventing such tragedies.
- In light of Kamilla's death and the transformation of her killer within the hospital, there is a call for increased focus on health-and-wellness, mental-health, and fitness-and-exercise programs for patients in psychiatric institutions.
- The family, along with concerned citizens, believe that the general-news, politics, and crime-and-justice communities should take notice of this case and advocate for stricter policies, better resources, and increased accountability in psychiatric care facilities to prevent such accidents and injustices from happening in the future.
