'Particularly Heavy Guilt' Found, Neo-Nazi Sentenced

A member of a neo-Nazi group in Germany has been sentenced to life in prison for her role in 10 racially motivated murders, though her lawyer claims she "was demonstrably present at no crime scene and never fired a weapon or detonated a bomb." Beate Zschaepe, 43, of the National Socialist Underground, denied knowledge of the murders she said were carried out by two male members who have since died by suicide, reports Reuters.

Munich's Higher Regional Court found she carried "particularly heavy guilt" for planning the killings between 2000 and 2007, as well as arranging money and alibis. The victims included a German policewoman, eight Turks, and a Greek citizen, per the BBC. "This is a just punishment for the NSU's cold-blooded and unprecedented series of crimes," Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said in a statement after Zschaepe's sentence was read. An appeal is expected. (More Germany stories.)