Stade, Germany - Two brothers were jailed for life Wednesday in Germany for gunning down seven people in a Chinese restaurant in 2007. Three other defendants were given sentences ranging from four to 14 years for the crime, at the Lin Yue restaurant in Sittensen, 50 kilometres south-west of Hamburg. All five were from Vietnam.
The court in Stade sentenced the 31-year-old marksman and his 35-year-old brother to life for the killings, and a third co-accused to 14 years for robbery with fatal consequences.
The man who gave the initial tip-off was sentenced to five years for incitement while a fifth man, the driver of the escape vehicle, got four years and nine months for abetting a robbery.
Judge Hans-Georg Kaemena justified the severity of the sentences by describing the crime as "one of the worst offences in Germany since the war."
The crime occurred shortly before midnight on February 4, 2007, when the British owner of the restaurant, 32-year old Danny Wing Hong Fan, his 28-year old wife, and five staff from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong were shot dead in rapid succession.
The restaurant chef was killed with six gunshots and the owner died of two bullet wounds. His wife and four other staff were tied up and shot at close range.
One of the five accused also worked at the restaurant.
The murders were discovered by a man who arrived shortly after midnight to meet his wife, a restaurant employee. Six of the victims had already died, and a seventh was fatally wounded and died a few hours later.
Police evidence had included photos showing the bloodied walls and floors of the restaurant, with slain bodies scattered in various rooms.
The trial relied purely on evidence such as traces of blood, fibre and smoke, as there were no independent witnesses to the shootings. The court had to examine more than 3000 pieces of evidence, a process which took more than 100 court days.
After exercising their right to silence at the start of the trial, the accused eventually expressed remorse but blamed each other for the murders.
This was the second attempt at bringing the men to justice after the first court case had ended prematurely when a judge became seriously ill.
