The Grisons Cantonal Court today sentenced David Frankfurter to 18 years in prison for the confessed assassination last February of Wilhelm Gustloff, Swiss Nazi leader. Eight months of the sentence was deducted for time already served while awaiting trial.
The verdict against the 27-year-old Yugoslavian medical student, who suffers from incurable tuberculosis of bone, also provides banishment from Switzerland for life following completion of the prison term. Frankfurter must pay the court costs, it was ruled.
The sentence was the maximum demanded by the prosecution, which contended the murder was premeditated.
Five judges, headed by A. R. Ganzoni, handed down the verdict after a trial lasting only four days.
Counsel for the defense pleaded the crime was committed while in a state of high mental excitement brought on by Nazi persecution of Jew.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
