- The victim was a 20-year-old student who worked at a gas station to finance his studies.

The gas station where the events occurred

Sentenced to life in prison for killing the employee who asked him to wear a mask

A man, identified as Mario N., was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for the murder of a gas station store employee who, in the midst of the pandemic, asked him to wear a mask.

"The Gas Station Killer," as he has since been known, left the premises when asked to wear a mask, returned armed, and shot the employee.

The events occurred on September 18, 2021, in the town of Idar-Oberstein (western Germany).

The victim was a 20-year-old student who worked at a gas station to finance his studies.

The Bad Kreuznach provincial court also found Mario N. guilty of illegal possession of weapons.

Mario N. admitted his guilt and expressed regret. The prosecution had requested a conviction for murder while the defense requested that the act be classified as a homicide.

Radical deniers

Mario N.'s guilt was never in doubt because of his confession - he claimed to have killed the employee because he had not wanted to sell him a beer without a mask - and because of the images from the video cameras on the premises.

One of the defense arguments was that at the time of the events the accused had a high level of alcohol and was not completely in control of his actions.

The murder of the gas station sparked a debate in Germany about the radicalization of the deniers of the pandemic and the world of the so-called "Querdenker" (Transversal Thinkers).

In far-right internet forums, the assassination was even celebrated while most political parties were shocked.

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