Manfred Genditzki

Manfred Genditzki (born May 28, 1960) was sentenced on circumstantial evidence to life imprisonment for the murder of 87-year-old pensioner Lieselotte Kortüm from Rottach-Egern, Bavaria, Germany. After serving a thirteen-year prison sentence, Genditzki was released from prison in 2022 and acquitted of the charges in a retrial in 2023.

Death of Lieselotte Kortüm

Manfred Genditzki was born 1960 in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He is married and has two children. He was the caretaker at the Kortüm's residence and helped Lieselotte with her shopping, preparing meals and doing the laundry. On 28 October 2008, Kortüm returned home from a hospital stay according to Genditzki's statements. He left at 3:00 pm to visit his mother who felt sick. Earlier, he had given the home nursing service a call reporting Kortüm had returned from the hospital. As happened every day, at 6:30 pm, a nurse arrived at Kortüm's apartment and found her body fully clothed in the bathtub. The cause of death was drowning. At first, an unfortunate, accidental fall was assumed to be the cause of death. The body was cremated the following day. One month later the autopsy report was amended.

Trial for murder

Hematomas with bleeding and an undamaged scalp at the back head were recognized in the autopsy. The hematomas were not unusual since the deceased medicated herself with an anticoagulant. In this first autopsy report, the death was caused by drowning after an unfortunate fall into the bathtub.