Beate Zschäpe, 43, a member of the neo-Nazi terrorist group National Socialist Underground (NSU), on Wednesday was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of ten people between 2000 and 2007, and for her part in two bombings, a number of robberies, and attempted murders, Deutsche Welle reported.
Zschäpe was also found guilty of founding and being a member of a terrorist organization.
She is expected to serve more than the minimum penalty of 15 years, due to the severity of her crimes.
Beate Zschäpe’s mother was an East German who studied dentistry in Bucharest and had her child with a Romanian dentistry student. Beate became involved in extremist politics around 1991, when she met Uwe Mundlos, and entered the national and international neo-Nazi network.
The NSU Trial began in May 2013, with Zschäpe accused of being a principal in ten murders and a serious arson and of being a member of a terrorist organization, with four suspected associates. In December 2015, Zschäpe, broke her silence after two and a half years and made a statement, denying that she had been a member of the NSU, and claiming that although she was involved with NSU members, she herself was not a member and even disapproved of their actions.
Zschäpe apologized to the victims’ families, saying that she felt morally guilty that she could not prevent the murders and bomb attacks carried out by Uwe Mundlos und Uwe Böhnhardt. But no one bought her apology, and Bild ran a headline saying: ” Zschäpe’s confession – nothing but excuses!”
In September 2017, the prosecutors demanded a life sentence for Zschäpe. On Wednesday, Beate Zschäpe was found guilty of ten counts of murder, membership in a terror organization and arson, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.