A couple who killed a friend by stabbing him 66 times in a Satanic ritual were given long prison sentences today in a case that has fascinated Germany with bizarre details of blood-sucking and devil worship.
Daniel Ruda, a 26-year-old former car-parts salesman, and his wife Manuela, 23, had confessed to murdering the man in their apartment surrounded by human skulls, cemetery lights, scalpels and incense - because the Devil ordered them to do so.
The victim, a 33-year-old colleague of Daniel Ruda's chosen because his mild nature and love of The Beatles enraged them, was found covered in knife wounds and with a scalpel protruding from his stomach. A pentagram, the sign of the Devil, had been carved into his chest.
The pair have shown no remorse, saying they were merely following the Devil's order to send him a human sacrifice because he wanted a court jester.
A judge in the western town of Bochum found the local pair guilty of murder and sentenced Daniel to 15 years in jail and Manuela to 13 years, but said the possibility they may kill again meant they might never be released.
He ordered that they also receive treatment in a secure psychiatric hospital for personality disorders for an unlimited period that would count towards their prison term.
"This case was not about Satanism but about a crime committed by two people with severe disorders. Nothing mystical or cult-like happened here, just simple, base murder," said judge Arnjo Kerstingtombroke as he read out the sentence.