Clangold (2026) s01e03 Episode Script

THIS SERIES
CONTAINS RE-ENACTMENTS.
SOME PEOPLE'S VOICES
WERE DISGUISED
TO PROTECT THEIR ANONYMITY.
Maybe people aren't deterred
because they only
get probation
[unsettling music playing]
and don't go to prison at all
because there's always
some loophole being exploited.
[tense music playing]
Only four men were accused,
but 11 lawyers defended them.
The goal for each
of the legal teams
was the acquittal
of their client.
The lawyers bend the law
to suit themselves.
I mean,
that's their job after all.
But when they exhaust
every possible avenue
with an army of lawyers
working for them,
filing motions,
complaints and so on,
then you don't have
much of a chance.
[energetic music playing]
EPISODE 3
OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
[suspenseful music playing]
[indistinct yells]
[Katrin] July 12th was the day
the big operation took place.
We arrested many people
and kept them
in investigative custody.
We searched
many, many apartments
and confiscated
truckloads of items.
The substantial discoveries
were 52,105 euros in cash,
a Ranger knife,
eight ski masks,
and 20 gloves.
ANDRÉ BLUHM
DETECTIVE CHIEF INSPECTOR
We found five armed,
fully loaded firearms
in places we could never
have imagined beforehand.
One weapon was found
inside the arm chair
that W. Remmo
had spent the night in.
Close at hand, fully loaded.
And another weapon was found
in the bath robe of a defendant
in an apartment
where children were playing.
That was the moment I thought,
"Dude, how did you end up here?"
[Katrin] And that's when
the lawyers started showing up.
KATRIN FAUS
SENIOR PROSECUTOR
The best and most expensive
lawyers Berlin has to offer.
And keep in mind, our defendants
are 18, 19, or 20 years old,
and they all live on welfare.
That's just a little something
to wrap your head around first.
[Mohamed] Why not?
Why should I hire a bad lawyer
when, in this country,
I'm already screwed from birth?
MOHAMED CHAHROUR
ACTOR & AUTHOR "CLANLAND"
Well, in a way
that's part of this
I mean, to say it a bit
cynically, part of the game.
In Berlin, the names of certain,
sought-after lawyers
are always circulating around.
HANSGEORG BIRKHOFF
CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER
"Who are you going with?
Who are they hiring?"
that sort of thing.
And yes, sometimes
my name is among them.
[dramatic music playing]
SHARO
EX-CRIMINAL AND INFLUENCER
Some lawyers even say,
"Give me 20 or 30 grand first,
or I won't even look
at your case file."
That happens, too.
They know there's something
to be gained.
My lawyer back then costs me
120,000 euros.
It was 1,800 euros
per day of trial.
There are all kinds of lawyers.
Well, honestly,
the pay was okay for us, too
KAI KEMPGENS
CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER
but the rumors going around
about how much money
was involved
DR. TORALF NÖDING
CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER
they are all just nonsense.
There are also many lawyers
who really want
to defend those families.
Because that gets them
media attention.
They earn themselves
a reputation that way.
Even if they don't
get a pile of money,
they'd do it just for that.
Just so they can say,
"I represented
the Al-Zein family,
the Remmo family."
But, of course,
that earns them money
in others ways.
Because many other clients
will approach them and say,
"Wow, you represented them,
represent me too."
Well, sure,
I guess you could say
a certain visibility
hasn't been bad
for our firm and for us,
including from this case.
[Kai] The first thing we do
in preparation for the trial is,
of course, review the case files
and attempt to make
an informed prediction.
Could this lead the court
to acquit
the defendant afterward?
But of course,
you can't predict that
because so much
can happen during the trial.
[suspenseful music playing]
A bill of indictment
primarily states
the prosecution's opinion
on the results
of the investigation.
Naturally, you read it first,
considering the context,
and then, step by step,
you look at every
single piece of evidence.
Does it deliver
what it has promised,
or is it just a lot of fuss
about nothing?
A constitutional state
is based on the principle
that one must be able
to prove things.
Well, the client got
in touch with me first
because I've defended clients
from that milieu before.
But then it became
clear pretty quickly
that this was something we
would have to handle as a team.
[mysterious music playing]
[Katrin] At that time,
it was about evaluating
the circumstantial evidence
and piecing the puzzle together.
We have DNA results.
We have a DNA trace of W. Remmo
that we found on the rope
that they had used.
DNA traces on the wedges
holding the doors.
A fingerprint
on the so-called gold sheet.
And a fingerprint from Denis W.
on the corner of the window
in the locker room
that they used during the heist.
And on top of that,
the evaluation
of the digital evidence
alone takes a long time.
We all know
that 18 to 20-year-olds
practically can't exist
without a phone in their hand.
That means there's loads
of stuff on those phones
that's not useful to us,
and we have
to sift through it all.
Nowadays, phones
have hundreds of gigabytes
that we need to analyze.
And what we found on the phone
were internet searches
on how to melt gold,
which companies
around here do that,
and how does one
break down gold.
Also, what the price
of gold currently is.
That immediately
proved to us that this group
was actually not full
of professionals.
And that was extremely helpful.
[Mohamed cheers]
[tense music playing]
[Sharo] When I got imprisoned
for the first time,
I was very selfish.
I didn't give a damn
about anything.
I didn't mind being locked up,
I thought, "Just close the cell,
lock me up for life,
I don't give a damn."
But then you wake up
in the morning
and feel miserable in prison.
What do you do?
You roll yourself a cigarette,
make some coffee,
and think about your whole life.
Of course,
it kind of hurt to be locked up,
far away
from friends and family.
So I got to know
other criminals
in there with me.
Heavy hitters,
guys who dealt drugs,
even outside Germany.
After I was released back then,
I was back on my own two feet,
and I decided to make use
of those connections.
Yeah, I just wanted to belong,
be part of the community.
I wanted a piece of the pie.
When I'm with my clients
or their families,
I never feel worried
about my personal safety
because they respect
that I'm their elder.
They respect me.
In fact, in some cases,
I've already worked with clients
who are
from their parents' generation.
In this particular case
with the theft,
none of the clients
ever told the defense lawyers
whether they had anything
to do with it or not.
This then raises the question
of whether knowing
if they did it or not
is even relevant to me
as a defense lawyer.
And it's not.
[dramatic music playing]
[Katrin] Something else of note
that we found on the cell phone
of security guard
Denis W. was a lot of
Well, I guess
you would call them selfies.
[Hans-Jürgen]
I didn't know Denis personally.
It was the police
who actually told me about him.
HANS-JÜRGEN HARRAS
HEAD OF SECURITY
They said that they found
pictures on his phone.
They asked me to look at
the pictures and mark the spots
where he had taken them
on a floor plan.
Because he didn't take
photos of the entire route.
The reason we did this
was because the escape route,
which we had also
reconstructed by other means,
was very visible
in the background
of these selfies.
[Hans-Jürgen] The exact
route that the coin took
is not exactly an easy one.
First, you need to get out
of the exhibition room,
and then you'd have
to go around some corners,
and walk through
the "Small Dome Hall",
and then through
other areas of the gallery
until you finally get back
to the changing room.
And to get there, you have
to take a different route again,
which is actually indicated on
the Museum's evacuation plan.
And that plan is displayed
throughout the museum
as required by law.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Hansgeorg]
It was being hypothesized that,
based on a flyer
containing certain drawings
and some scribbled notes
in the margines,
as well as a certain degree
of personal connection
to a larger extended family,
a link could be established
that would allow one
to suspect
an involvement in the crime.
"On June 17th, 2017,
Denis W. discusses
a real estate issue
with his friend
and future business partner,
and it says verbatim,
'The most important thing is,
I want to get rid of my money.'"
But the most important thing is,
where did he get the money from?
[Hansgeorg]
When it comes to the question
of where the money comes from,
of course, you always
have to ask yourself,
are there other explanations
for this besides the ones
the prosecution
offers in its indictment?
We know there were conversations
where he's talking on the phone
about financing a small store,
or about a car for example.
If we take this on its own,
this isn't really
of any importance.
You have to understand,
these boys are between
18 and 21 years old.
They are at the age
where they dream of fancy cars
that they can drive along
the famous Ku'damm Avenue.
Stories like that, about
showing off for your friends,
might be relevant to the case,
but they could also just be
typical teenage bragging.
[singer singing in German]
[Rasmi speaking German]
[newscaster]
The police are hoping
that witness statements
will yield new information.
Clues regarding
possible suspects
or even the gold coin itself
will be rewarded
with up to 5,000 euros
by the prosecution.
[Katrin]
After everything we tried,
still no witnesses contacted us,
which was disappointing.
But it's incredibly difficult
to get witness statements,
especially in
an insular community like this.
So we had to ask
ourselves if what we had
would actually be enough
for the proceedings.
Because a sheet detailing
how to divide the coin
or just a few specks
of gold dust
wouldn't be enough
for the lawyers.
If we did present these,
they would keep asking,
"Can you rule out "
It's every lawyer's
favorite question to ask,
"Can you rule out that this gold
is from a different coin?"
And then, of course,
I'd have to say,
"No, I can't rule out anything."
It honestly feels like
some of these measures
that they put in place
are designed to purposefully
put obstacles in our way.
Then a defense lawyer
comes along
and starts filing motions.
Of course, that completely
throws off the schedule.
It goes without saying that this
doesn't make you very popular.
If a trial takes
a very, very long time,
then the sentence
must ultimately be reduced
due to the excessive length
of the proceedings.
And I can't help but feel
that the defense lawyers
have this very much top of mind,
and act accordingly
during this period of time.
I personally have
a big problem with that.
And we're simply
lacking resources
to deal with this barrage
from the defense.
As lawyers, we're not here
to win a popularity contest.
My job is to defend
my client in an adequate way.
That is all.
[energetic music playing]
[Katrin] We asked ourselves,
"Have we really
done everything we can,
or are we missing something?"
I am, indeed, worried
that we might not be able
to prove the offense.
And that was when we revisited
the video recordings.
ORIGINAL FOOTAGE
[Katrin] I had heard
that there are new forensic
examination methods,
and that there's a scientist
who's working to build up
this area of research.
So I contacted him.
[Dirk] When I was contacted
about my work,
the first question
they asked me was,
"Is it possible to deduce
from other videos
DR. DIRK LABUDDE
BIOINFORMATICS AND FORENSICS
if the suspects in these videos
are the same offenders?"
[Katrin]
What we wanted to know was this,
if I was to bring him
an actual person,
would he be able to tell
if the person in front of him
is the same person
using his methods.
The aim of this method
that they have been developing
is to try and match suspects
to the video
surveillance footage
using the bone measurements
of the offenders
that we already have in custody.
[Kai] This method
is absolutely fascinating.
It's truly some
state-of-the-art technology.
It's extremely well-suited,
for example,
when you know
there are three individuals
and you want
to find out which of them
is the person
depicted in an image.
The method is excellent
at finding that out.
[Katrin] We had placed
a great, great deal of hope
on Professor Labudde's
expert opinion.
Because what we've been
desperately searching for
was something that would
unequivocally tell us,
this person was
at that location at that time.
[Dirk] Okay. Thanks.
"These individuals
should be photographed
as follows,
to the extent possible,
first, without shoes;
second, wearing only underwear.
If possible, mark
the following joints with,
for example, colored tape,
ankles, knees, wrists, elbows."
[Dirk] Stand still please.
[Kai] According to the Code
of Criminal Procedure,
pictures are allowed to be
taken for identification.
Meaning, a person
may be photographed.
-[Dirk] Could you please
undress down to your underwear?
-Mm-hmm.
[Dirk] Some suspects have done
these ID procedures before,
but this way of photographing
them is completely new to them.
[speaking German]
[Dr. Toralf] The way
these measurements are taken,
I actually found this
to be somewhat degrading.
You're standing there on
a turntable, in your underwear,
so that the proportions of
your body are clearly visible.
That's a bit
of a gray area, in my opinion.
[Dirk] We're now in possession
of their digital twin.
And we have
the digital location,
the train station
Hackescher Markt.
And then you take
the digital twin
from one location
and simply transfer it
to the other location.
And then we bring
that digital twin
into the same posture
as the person
we can see in the video.
This way, we were able
to prove pretty clearly,
that the differences between
the individual in the video
and our digital twin
are very, very small.
And in one case
in this instance,
there's even zero difference.
Dr. Labudde
established the connections
between the specifications of
each person on all three days.
And he was also able
to match them to the individuals
on our list of suspects.
[Katrin] Dr. Labudde's
expert opinion on the case
was a decisive turning
point in our investigation.
That was, of course,
exactly what we had hoped for.
That this new scientific method
would actually help us
and provide us
with solid evidence,
enabling us to identify
these individuals accurately
and with complete certainty.
That was a beautiful day.
[dramatic music playing]
Because of the expert opinions,
but also because of many motions
filed by the lawyers,
the investigation
became very lengthy.
At some point,
we couldn't justify keeping them
in investigative custody
any longer.
So we unfortunately
had to release them.
The danger I saw
with releasing them
was that more crimes
would be committed
once they got back home.
They didn't have
regular jobs before this,
and they wouldn't
after their release either.
Where would be if a prosecutor
could keep someone in custody
simply because
they suspect they might commit
another crime at some point?
It was right to release them,
and in accordance
with the rule of law.
[Katrin] Nevertheless,
it feels very unsettling to see
people being set free
when you are personally
convinced that they are guilty
of the crime
you are investigating.
Check out this diamond.
Where's that?
Dresden.
You know how much diamonds cost?
[Dr. Toralf] Being released
naturally makes the proceedings
less stressful for them.
They can carry on
with their everyday lives,
and above all,
they can positively influence
their own prognosis.
The difference being you go
to trial straight from custody,
or that you demonstrate
that you're willing to live
as a law-abiding citizen
by attending school
for four months.
[suspenseful music playing]
THE TRIAL BEGINS
[Katrin] We had evaluated and
compiled all of the evidence
and prepared the indictment.
And then
the main trial started.
[newscaster] One of the
most sensational trials
in recent years
draws large crowds.
There's still no trace of
the multi-million euro loot.
[Mohamed]
"Gold Coin", "Four Blocks",
"Dogs of Berlin",
and all of that kinda stuff.
The story was everywhere.
There's big interest in a big
trial underway now in Berlin.
One of the world's
biggest gold coins.
The coin is probably long gone.
Had it been
a small coin, well, okay,
but guys, you let them snatch
a 100-kilo coin from you.
Media coverage
was truly on overdrive that day.
They were everywhere.
I remember thinking to myself,
"Just let us do our job,
we know what we're doing."
It was a little unusual
because when I arrived
at the court house,
I immediately saw
three live broadcasting vans
parked in front.
And there was an incredible
press turnout inside.
What made this case unique
was that the defendants
had not been convicted,
so they were not actually
supposed to be filmed.
[Dr. Toralf] They're leading
their normal lives
and then just have
this court date
that they have to attend.
[Kai] It's customary that
pre-trial photos are taken.
And that means
the press are allowed in
for one or two minutes.
The atmosphere
was really tense.
[woman]
Alright, 30 more seconds.
[tense music playing]
[Kai] Then the press
were sent outside,
and everything turned silent.
All the professionals
are sitting there,
the bench, the lawyers,
and everyone takes
a deep breath and thinks,
"Let's just calmly get started."
The accused made use of
their right to remain silent.
That means therefor
nothing was said by them.
However,
two of the defending lawyers
made opening statements
on their behalf to the court.
The essence of those statements
was that the evidence collected
and the circumstantial evidence
would not be sufficient
for a conviction.
[Thomas] Shortly after that,
I received a letter in the mail
from the state court.
They were summoning me
to testify as a witness.
Anyway
THOMAS SCHNEIDER
SECURITY GUARD
I had to go there.
There was a judge.
She said, "Mr. Schneider,
you're coming without a lawyer?"
I said, "I don't need a lawyer,
I have nothing to hide."
Then she said,
"But sir, you're a suspect.
Do you want to testify
all the same, or do you refuse?"
I said, "No, I would still
like to testify."
[Hansgeorg]
In a situation like this,
many people feel the need
to speak to the court
to defend themselves.
[Thomas] The offenders
were sitting left and right.
As close to me as we are
to each other right now.
I could have
easily touched them.
They all looked at me
and just smirked.
Like, "What do you want?
You can't harm us."
Well, anyway, they each had
two lawyers accompanying them.
You get it, right?
Okay, can we stick
to the truth then, please?
[Hansgeorg] I think some people
see me as difficult.
Because if I intensely
focus on a matter,
I have the reputation
to relentlessly push
my way through.
I know that I will get
the result I desire.
But you see,
now we have two truths.
[Hansgeorg]
As soon as the suspicion
against the security guard
becomes stronger,
this, of course,
clears my client of suspicion.
So I'm obliged
to follow that path
in order to make clear
that things might
have happened differently
than the prosecution states.
So why did you check
the first and second floor?
[Thomas] I did what I was told.
I mean, I'd only been there
for a few days.
For the lawyers,
I was the culprit.
All the others sitting there
were innocent,
and I was the main offender.
That was clear,
from the formulation
of the questions alone.
[Hansgeorg]
And what is it exactly
that you told them?
[Thomas] Well, that I checked
the second floor.
And not the first floor.
He lied about the route
he'd walked.
And of course,
the police officers
also noticed that little detail.
"Well, wait a minute, if he had
patrolled the building,
then surely, he could very well
have encountered the offenders."
When confronted with that,
he contradicted himself.
[Thomas]
"Why did you do this and that?
When was that?
And why do you claim
not to have heard anything?"
And on and on.
It felt like all they wanted
to do was make me say,
"Yes, it was me.
I confess, you got me.
Here, go on, arrest me."
But it wasn't false.
I really didn't
understand it correctly.
[Dr. Toralf] But you do know
what false testimony is, right?
It's a criminal offense.
[Hansgeorg] So now we have
two statements from you
that differ slightly,
two truths.
[Kai]
When he started testifying,
his description was
very emotional,
and it was very clear
to everyone
what an unpleasant situation
he had been in,
every sentence made us think
"Yeah, he seems to be
telling the truth."
It was clear that he didn't
have anything to do with it.
Yeah.
He doesn't seem capable
of doing anything evil.
It made you want to hug him,
and I remember
that I felt sorry for him.
He was sitting there,
and it was absolutely clear.
Well, he's sitting there
for nothing.
[Thomas] I'm telling you
the truth.
Anyway,
I spent three hours there.
Three hours, I checked my watch.
They questioned me,
and then they let me leave.
That feeling is something
I wouldn't wish upon anyone.
Then I didn't hear from them
for quite a while.
And weeks later, I got a letter
from the public prosecutor's
office saying that
all investigations against me
had been closed.
[Katrin] It was indeed
the right decision
to release him from any further
proceedings of the trial
after a certain point
because the suspicion
against him weren't confirmed.
I still have that letter,
I'm keeping it.
"Dear Mr. Schneider,
I have closed
the investigation against you
in accordance with Section 170,
sub section 2, of the Code
of Criminal Procedure."
Yeah, that was it, basically.
Stuff like this is really awful,
you know, but
[birds chirping]
[camera shutter clicks]
[dramatic music playing]
If my father saw this
I know he'd think that
we shouldn't romanticize
all of this too much.
I'm sure it would be
important to him
RASMI NASRALLAH
ACTOR
that we show that
that's not the right way.
But he'd want us to show
the downsides too,
which are not that pleasant
to talk about.
I mean, that life actually
isn't always perfect
if you do stuff like that.
[tense music playing]
[Rasmi] I wouldn't do it
because I don't want to do
that to my family.
I don't think that everyone
from the Remmo family
is a thief.
And still people say,
"Remmo family, robber family",
you know?
Even if you might be
from a branch of the family
where you don't have much to do
with people who are thieves.
[Katrin] There are surely
many more family members
that are upstanding citizen
than family members
who are dedicated
to that clan-based criminality.
And those people pay
a very, very high price
for being related
to that family by birth
and the simple fact
of bearing the same name.
But maybe it's in the hands
of the offenders
to realize what they're
actually doing to the image
and reputation
of their relatives.
[dramatic music playing]
[clan member] No. To be honest,
I didn't have anything to do
with that family.
But I can speak
from my own experience.
There are family matters
that really only siblings
and parents know about,
and beyond that,
nothing is shared,
not with uncles or cousins,
because the motto is,
"We don't trust anyone;
we only trust ourselves."
CLAN MEMBER
I had to cut ties with my family
because the environment
was criminal.
I can't give my name
because talking to you
about this topic
could end up being
very dangerous for me.
The older I got,
the more I heard people say,
"We're Mardelli."
But I never used that word.
I've never been there.
They always used to say,
"Didn't you know we're Kurdish?"
Well then,
can you speak Kurdish?
Tell me
in what sense are you Kurdish?
I had actually claimed
that I was Lebanese for years.
But our roots
are actually Syrian.
And I grew up in Germany,
but the whole time,
I had Turkish citizenship.
It was really confusing for me,
to be honest.
I mean, it's confusing
for all of us.
To the men,
it's always very important
to have lots of sons.
That's always such
a huge deal for them.
They all want boys,
so they can pass on
the family name.
That's really all they want.
[girl] Baba?
What are you doing here?
Go away!
That's the way it feels
for the women.
We were allowed
to count the money,
but not to ask
where it came from.
Sometimes,
I think that certain men
in the extended family
have a God complex going on.
They think
they can achieve anything,
fool everyone.
"I'm untouchable,
there's nothing I can't do.
I'm the man,
I've got the power."
[man speaking foreign language]
[clan member]
Everything changed for me
when my brother
very suddenly got arrested.
[police officer 1] Police,
don't move! Stay still!
Then he was released.
[police officer 2]
Hands behind your back!
Messed up again,
he was locked up.
[police officer 1]
On your feet.
And was released again
and locked up again.
And if you are held accountable
for what you've done,
you have to be careful
who you mention.
There are even more
powerful people
pulling the strings
behind the scenes.
I really wish
the police had managed
to contain these organizations
within the community.
At least to the point
where the more powerful ones
were no longer able to have
so much influence
over those
who are less powerful.
If someone gives a testimony,
he has a week to decide
if he'd like to retract it
or not
to avoid any problems.
[tense music playing]
[Katrin]
And then we got to the point
during the main trial
where Doctor Labudde
had to state and defend
his expert opinion
in front of the bench of judges,
the defending lawyers,
and the prosecution.
What you think about
the evening before is,
"Do I have everything?
Have I printed everything?
Is it in the right order,
in the right folder?
Are the videos
in the right place?
Will I be able find everything
when they ask
the corresponding questions?"
[tense music playing]
[Dirk] An expert witness
usually sits at a table
next to the prosecution.
Well, the prosecution,
the co-plaintiff
and then the expert witness.
In this case, the table
was set up in the center,
like in a gladiators arena.
You're sitting there all alone,
surrounded by a large number
of criminal defense lawyers.
And everyone is
looking down at you.
I guess Mr. Labudde had imagined
he would simply state his
expert opinion and then leave.
[Dirk] Based on well,
based on
anatomical positioning
In reality, we had been
preparing ourselves
for this particular
interrogation for months.
At that time, there weren't
any scientific publications yet
that you could point to
for credibility.
And how high is the probability
that it's a different person?
[Dirk] In order to prove
that the method works,
we had evaluated the results
and visualized them.
Like, where exactly
are the hits,
and do the unknown person
and the known person
match or not?
[Dr. Toralf] This is what
you're calculating
with, correct?
-[Dirk] Yes.
-[Dr. Toralf] Alright, then.
We've enlarged
one of them here
In all the attempts
that were carried out
to verify the method,
the offender was among
the individuals
being compared.
so we asked ourselves,
if you leave out that column,
if you don't know
who the offender is,
what result would
the method produce?
And we realized that
even if the offender
wasn't among them,
it would always identify
one person as the offender.
[Dirk]
Then one of the defense lawyers
took the sheet
[Dr. Toralf]
So if I cut this apart
But, you can't just look
at only one column.
And he said, "Yes, I can.
And actually
if I cut along here
and show you the result,
you have to agree
that your results are wrong."
[Kai] Is this calculation
still correct then?
[Dr. Toralf] Yes or no?
[chatter and laughs]
[Dirk] How can I stop this?
Excuse me,
we're interrupting this
because our friend over there
didn't understand the math.
The method works.
This is the result,
just accept it,
this is about the truth.
Why don't they understand me?
From my point of view,
I've explained
everything correctly.
I may be able to scientifically
explain this to my colleagues,
and they will say,
"Great, that makes sense."
But of course
that doesn't mean that a lawyer
can necessarily understand it.
[Dr. Toralf speaking German]
[Dirk speaking German]
So, that was when it started
going sideways.
From then on, they bombarded me
with questions.
[Kai] Mr. Labudde, have you seen
this jacket before?
[Dirk] Yes, I have, in images.
"So you haven't actually
seen it?"
No, not the jacket here
like this,
but I've seen it in a video.
"Did you evaluate then?"
I said, "Images".
I compared one image
with another.
That's something
completely different.
[Kai] So, to be clear,
you're talking about things
you've never actually physically
seen in real life.
[Dirk] "But you're saying
it's this jacket
that was found
with the offender."
I said, if it's the jacket
from the photo,
I can deduce from the picture
that it's this jacket.
"But did anyone tell you that
it's a picture of this jacket?"
Yes or no?
You need to be clear in court,
so yes or no?
[Dirk] Yes, I've seen the jacket
in the video.
[Dr. Toralf]
But not in real life?
-[Dirk] Correct.
-[Kai] Thank you.
[Dirk] Like with an onion,
they peeled off
layer after layer after layer.
And honestly, in a way that was
a very painful thing
to have to go through.
And then we got to the shoes.
[Dr. Toralf] You mentioned
that there was a malposition
of the legs that lead
to the left shoe wearing down.
He had claimed to have seen
photos of the said shoe
and believed that
it had a certain
kind of worn-down pattern
on the sole of it.
And the colleagues
who were defending
that accused person
asked the professor
if he had ever seen
the actual shoe.
And of course, he hadn't.
So they brought the shoe in,
and it turned out
that it wasn't worn down.
There was dirt on the sole
that could be easily wiped away.
[Dirk] That was a mistake.
I realized that immediately,
I admit to that.
There was nothing I could do
in that situation.
So you were mistaken?
[laughter]
People laugh a lot more in court
than you'd think.
But of course,
it's not right to laugh
at someone.
And I don't remember
that specific situation now,
but I wouldn't rule it out
because emotions were high
for everyone that day.
[dramatic music playing]
[Katrin] The defense lawyers
and the bench
completely tore
this expert opinion apart.
So there was nothing left
of that one for us.
[Hansgeorg]
That was definitely problematic
because it was a key
piece of evidence.
So, yes, of course.
That was disastrous
for the prosecution.
[Katrin] We had relied
heavily on the fact
that this expert opinion
would actually allow us
to definitively identify
these individuals.
After all, it was clear
to everyone
that a great many members
of this family
were involved in this theft
in some way or another.
But, of course, that alone
isn't enough for a conviction.
Of course, we need to be able
to definitively say,
"You were in that museum
that night
and walked off
with that coin."
At that moment
during the main trial,
I thought,
I can pack up and go home.
[glass shattering]
[man laughing]
[Katrin] We are going
to lose this trial
even though we know
exactly who it was.
[Dr. Toralf] It was a trial
based on circumstantial
evidence.
That's always difficult
for the prosecution
and the police.
It's more difficult to solve
because there's that
family structure
where you can't easily get in.
But that's just the way it is.
[Katrin] At that moment,
we had no idea what to do next.
And that was a very difficult
point in the trial.
[clan member] How's it possible
that you can't prove
that they stole the coin,
if it's that obvious
to everyone else
from their boasting alone?
There's no way that person
can afford this, that,
and the other thing
on top of that.
I mean, that's proof enough,
isn't it?
At least that's what I'd think
as an ordinary person.
I also don't think
that this network
will be destroyed anytime soon.
Our families are there.
And to be honest,
I don't think
they'll stop voluntarily.
[Hansgeorg]
The purpose of a criminal trial
is to let them know,
"You've broken the rules.
As a society,
we're not putting up with this,
and that's why
we're punishing you."
On the other hand,
if you look at it
from the opposing point of view,
the findings of that
criminal trial
are only legitimate
if we stick to the rules
during the proceedings.
After all,
nobody publicly announced,
"We're heading to Dresden
and doing something else
in our free time."
[André] They were waiting
for their sentencing here.
There's no way they could have
carried out the break-in
at the Green Vault in Dresden
at the same time.
[Katrin]
The audacity of that act
simply knocked my socks off.
[singer singing in
foreign language]
[Katja] Dresden is in
a state of turmoil
because the biggest art heist
in Germany's post-war history
took place there this morning.
[credits music playing]