Collini’s suicide in prison

Fabrizio Collini’s suicide in his cell ends the murder trial before the court can reach a verdict. Announced at the start of a session attended by lawyers, officials, the press, and spectators, his death transforms a pending criminal proceeding into one that must be discontinued, with its costs and necessary expenses assigned to the state.

Discovery and Announcement

The session begins with the presiding judge asking the courtroom to quiet down. Caspar Leinen points out that his client has not yet been brought to court and says the proceedings cannot begin. The judge tells him that she knows, then addresses the room: Fabrizio Collini took his own life in his cell the previous night. According to the forensic pathologist, the time of death was 2:40.

The announcement supplies no explanation for Collini’s action. Its bluntness leaves the fact of his death certain while its motive remains unstated. The court learns the time through the pathologist’s determination, not through a message from Collini or an account of the act itself.

Discontinuation of the Trial

After allowing the courtroom to take in the news, the judge announces the legal consequence: the trial is discontinued, and the state will bear the costs and necessary expenses. With Collini dead, the proceedings cannot continue to a judgment against him. His suicide therefore brings the trial to an abrupt close without resolving the case through a verdict.

The ruling moves quickly from personal catastrophe to procedural finality. The court does not adjourn for a later hearing or pronounce judgment; it formally ends the case. The distinction matters: the announcement settles what happens to the trial, but it does not itself answer the questions the trial had been convened to examine.

The Empty Place in Court

A dropped pen rolls across the floor as the courtroom absorbs the decision. The court reporter begins typing; the presiding judge waits, then declares the session concluded. The judges and lay judges leave, Senior Public Prosecutor Reimers shakes his head and writes in his file, and journalists hurry out to contact their newspapers, radio stations, and television stations.

Leinen remains seated, looking at the empty chair where Collini had been sitting. Its fabric is worn thin at the sides, an ordinary trace of repeated use made newly conspicuous by the absent defendant. A police officer gives Leinen a sealed envelope marked for defending counsel. The scene ends with the envelope unopened: Collini’s death has ended the public proceeding, but the contents of the message remain unknown.