Zeynep Özdemir born: 1974
stabbed to death: 13 March 2016
Residence: Bremerhaven
Origin: Turkey
Children: 2 daughters (7 and 18 years)
Perpetrator: her ex-husband Yüksel Sahbaz (43 years)
Zeynep was married to Yüksel by her family in Anatolia. Through family contacts the two came to Bremerhaven in 1997. They live in the district of Geestemünde and have two daughters together. Zeynep works as an interpreter. Yüksel has another illegitimate son.
Seynep and Yüksel separate. But because he can't find an apartment, he moves back in with Zeynep.
On March 13, 2016, Yüksel stabs his wife early in the morning with a kitchen knife. The older daughter wakes up startled and finds her father with a knife in his hand. The high school graduate calls the emergency doctor. The perpetrator flees. The younger sister is probably (at least indirectly) also a witness to the crime.
After 23 days Zeynep died on 5 April despite several emergency operations in a Hanover clinic. The next day Yüksel surrenders to the police. He is known to the police for other crimes.
At the end of September the trial starts in the Bremen District Court. Although Yüksel has been in Germany for 20 years, he has had a translation made in court himself. The two daughters live with family members, the 18-year-old appears in court as a witness.
In January 2017, Yüksel is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for manslaughter.