Men Of Flesh And Blood (7 page)

Manuela claimed she was
first drawn to Satanism during a visit to Britain. She told the
court she drifted into the "gothic" scene after the Devil contacted
her when she was 14. At 16, bored by her life in the small German
town of Witten, she travelled to the Scottish Highlands where she
worked in a hotel for a few months and enjoyed the emptiness, the
cemeteries, and gloomy atmosphere of the low clouds, she said. She
spent time living in a cave on the Isle of Skye with Tom Leppard, a
heavily tattooed 62 year-old man.

In London, she worked in a
gothic club in Islington where she claims to have joined a group
who attended "bite parties" and worshipped the Devil. "We drank
blood from living people," she told police. "We slept on graves.
One time we dug a grave and I slept in it, just to see what it
would feel like."

Daniel and Manuela's
trials began in January 2002. The trials provided some more
gruesome details of what happened. The case was mainly on Manuela,
who had her teeth removed, and had animal fangs put in. Manuela
told the court that she had given Satan her soul and promised to
serve him after she died. Manuela's parents took the stand at the
trial, and they told the audience that she was an only child who
loved animals. Once Manuela turned 13, Manuela's parents were
getting upset at the way she was acting with punk type haircuts and
garish clothes. She was also running away from home. At the trial,
Manuela dressed in her normal fashion with black clothes, shaved
head, and had a cross-engraved in the sides of her head.

During Daniel's part of
the trial, he said he was following orders from Satan. Daniel told
the court that if he killed a person with a car, the car doesn't go
to jail but the person does. Daniel they said he didn't do anything
wrong when he and Manuela killed Frank. In other words, it was
Satan’s fault. Daniel also told the court the reason why they
picked Frank for sacrifice was that he was funny and would be the
perfect court jester for Satan. Daniel dressed appropriately for
court, but was acting out. Daniel and Manuela were giving each
other signs with their fingers. Daniel was also sticking out his
tongue. Daniel was also showing up sometimes to court in costumes,
and threatened witnesses during the trial as well as the public who
was watching the case.

Psychiatric experts told
the court that both Daniel and Manuela were suffering from severe
narcissistic personality disturbances. As a result of this, Daniel
and Manuela could not get life sentences because they were both
mentally ill and couldn't be held one hundred percent responsible
for their actions. The judge explained that the case wasn’t about
Satanism, rather about a crime that was committed by two people who
were ill. While the sentences were being announced Daniel was
looking at his mother, and Manuela was looking down and chewing
bubble gum. Frank Hackert's father was there throughout the case to
see what kind of punishment Daniel and Manuela would
get.

The prison terms that
Daniel and Manuela got were 15 years for Daniel and 13 years for
Manuela. The sentences were to be served in a secure psychiatric
hospital instead of jail because they would be a threat to other
inmates if were put in jail. The court at the very end said there
is a good chance that after they served their prison time they
still might not get out because there is a possibility they might
kill someone else again.