Shocking case in Herdick: Daughter stabs and tortures her mother, Mayor Iris Stalzer
New details have emerged in the shocking case in the city of Herdings, where newly elected mayor Iris Stalzer was brutally attacked inside her home. Investigations indicate that her adopted daughter tortured her for hours and even attempted to set her on fire.
In the months leading up to the attack, Stalzer had repeatedly sought help from the authorities. She filed several reports with the police and the youth welfare office, complaining about the escalating violence at home and the neglect of her situation by official institutions. Just one day before the incident, she contacted the police again and told them that she feared for her life. The actions taken after that call remain unclear, prompting North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul to order an internal review.
Investigators have managed to piece together a chilling sequence of events. On the morning of the crime, it is believed that Stalzer went down to the basement to take a shower, where she encountered her 17-year-old adopted daughter. The relationship between them seems to have been strained for a long time, and the discussion quickly turned to severe violence. The daughter stabbed her mother 13 times in the upper part of her body, causing skull fractures and serious injuries, and she also attempted to set her hair and clothes on fire using deodorant spray and a lighter.
Despite her critical condition, Schtalzer initially refused to reveal the identity of the attacker, telling police from her hospital bed that she knew who did it but did not wish to disclose. She only revealed the truth after her husband returned from a business trip and convinced her to give her full testimony, at which point she confirmed that her daughter was responsible for the attack.
Authorities revealed that this incident was not the first of its kind, as both Schtalzer and her husband had previously been attacked by their daughter. The mayor had sent an official request for help to the youth welfare office last summer due to escalating family tensions. Despite the severity of the crime, the public prosecutor's office in Hagen classified the case as serious bodily harm rather than attempted murder, noting that the daughter ultimately called emergency services at her mother's request. The girl is currently undergoing treatment in a psychiatric facility for adolescents, along with her 15-year-old brother.