A Routine Check Becomes a Death Trap
On January 31, 2022, at approximately 11:45 PM, police commissioner Dominique K. (24) and officer Willi H. (29) pulled over a VW Golf on country road L355 between Kusel and Konken in Rhineland-Palatinate. It was an ordinary traffic stop—the kind of work officers from the West Palatinate Police Directorate conduct dozens of times each week.
But inside the vehicle sat Andreas S. (38) and his girlfriend Janina W. (29), who had something to hide: illegal hunting, unlicensed weapons, and criminal histories. As the couple exited the car, Andreas S. opened fire with a homemade shotgun. He shot Willi H. in the back and head at close range. Dominique K. was struck in the torso. Janina W. reloaded and also fired. Dominique K. died at the scene. Willi H. died shortly after at the hospital from his injuries.
It was no accident. It was a deliberate execution carried out by two people desperate to conceal their illegal activities.
Criminals with Unlicensed Weapons
Andreas S. had a criminal record. The trained butcher had multiple convictions for Illegal hunting and unlicensed weapons possession on his CV. On the night in question, he was again on an illegal hunting trip—with weapons he absolutely had no right to carry in his vehicle.
His 29-year-old girlfriend Janina W. had previously been charged with complicity in illegal hunting. She accompanied him on the hunt that night—and she also played a role in the murders.
After the shooting, the couple fled the scene. But their freedom was short-lived. On February 2, 2022, at 10:45 AM, Andreas S. and Janina W. voluntarily surrendered to police at a residential building in Kusel. Before the surrender, a nationwide manhunt had been launched with helicopters, special units, and publicly distributed sketches of the suspects.
Life Sentences and Preventive Detention
On August 22, 2023, Kaiserslautern Regional Court sentenced Andreas S. to two concurrent life sentences for aggravated Murder under particularly serious circumstances—committed with base motives and treachery. He also received five years for unlicensed weapons possession and was ordered to preventive detention, meaning he could remain imprisoned indefinitely after serving his sentence if deemed a continuing danger.
Janina W. received ten years imprisonment—as an accessory to Dominique K.'s murder and as an accomplice to Willi H.'s murder.
Oberlandesgericht Karlsruhe (Higher Regional Court) upheld the verdicts on May 14, 2024. On November 14, 2024, the Federal Court of Justice rejected Andreas S.'s appeal. His sentence is now final and cannot be contested further. The Kaiserslautern prosecutor's office emphasized that "the actions served to conceal illegal hunting."
An Attack on the Rule of Law
This case shocked Germany. The local interior minister called the crime "an attack on the rule of law," and the leadership of the police union characterized it as "one of the most shocking police murders in the postwar era."
Dominique K. and Willi H. were merely doing their jobs that night. They never had the chance to defend themselves against the shots that turned an ordinary workday into their last.
Related Crimes
Police murders
Unlicensed weapons
Murder with base motives
