Accusations against Dirk's parents
Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, 11/15/1991
Accusations against Hamer's parents
Prince of Savoy set free – Expert witness regarding the cause of death was heard
Paris – The son of the last Italian king, Prince Viktor Emanuel, who is standing trial in a Paris jury court since Wednesday on charges of physical injury resulting in death and illegal possession of weapons, has been set free until the end of the trial. The court ordered to release the 54-year-old prince, who had spent the night from Wednesday to Thursday in a prison cell.
The main focus in the jury court hearing on Thursday was on the victim. During an argument with an Italian playboy about a rubber dinghy, the prince fired two carbine shots in August 1978 in a Corsican harbour. One of the shots hit the German student Dirk Hamer, who was not involved at all. He had been transferred to Heidelberg after initial medical interventions in Corsica and Marseille where he died more than four months later.
The person in charge of the prosecution says: "The question is: What was the cause of Dirk Hamer's death, the injury or the improper actions of the Hamer family?" The head of the ICU at the hospital in Marseille, Professor Michel Olmer, had accused the family of "unacceptable" behaviour because they transferred "a patient to Heidelberg without informing anyone".
Among numerous expert witnesses, a specialist in kidney disease described the injury as the "major cause" of the death, that occurred "after a series" of dramatic complications. (dpa - German Press Agency)