The couple left Lea to choke to death on her own vomit while tied up in their apartment cellar in Dinslaken, Germany. Her body was later discovered in the Rhine-Herne canal.
Last October, the Wensings locked Lea in their basement, subjecting her to six days of unimaginable torture. Disturbing messages exchanged between the parents revealed their deep hatred for their daughter and their plan to end her life. “The stupid b**** is taking up our time. She makes me angry, she ruined everything. I can’t stand her anymore,” Maja texted. Sascha replied, “I’ve taped her again, the dummy has bands on her legs and can’t move. She’s a huge a***hole.”
The parents described in sickening detail how they taped Lea’s mouth shut, knowing she would slowly choke on her vomit. Maja urged, “Glue her mouth and go out,” to which Sascha responded, “We have symptoms of suffocation… I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Prosecutor Jill McCuller recounted the harrowing messages in court, stating, “The defendants hated their daughter and treated her inhumanely. The victim suffered irrepressible fear of death several times during her ordeal. Her death was highly traumatic – she was found with vomit in every alveoli of her lungs.”
After Lea’s death, Sascha disposed of her body in the canal and reported her death to the police as an accident. However, a post-mortem examination revealed clear signs of torture and abuse, along with vomit clogging her lungs. The Oberhausen emergency services had to send a dive team to recover her body.
Sascha and Maja Wensing will now spend at least 25 years each behind bars for their heinous crimes.