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Arson Spree Suspect's Mother Rants Again in L.A. Courtroom, Says She and Her Son Are Victims, Not Criminals
Dorothee Burkhart (Screenshot)
Dorothee Burkhart, the 53-year-old German mother of arson spree suspect Harry Burkhart, made another appearance in court today, and also made a spectacle of herself as she spouted off about her son and her treatment by authorities.Today's hearing was yet another piece of the ongoing process to extradite Burkhart to Germany, where she is wanted on 19 counts of fraud, including an allegation she did not pay for her breast implants.
Because she was deemed indigent today by U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Nagle, Burkhart is now eligible for the free services of a lawyer, according to City News Service.
However, Burkhart was unable to stop herself from making declarations during the proceedings deemed irrelevant to the issue at hand, and that resulted in her being removed from the court briefly.
Among Burkhart's issues include her dismay at artists' renderings of her court appearances, alleged media stories portraying her as a prostitute, and that she had been "manhandled" by the U.S. marshals who removed her from court today. She also believes being sent back to her homeland will be fatal: "If you send me to Germany I can't fight anything and I will be killed," she said to Nagle.
Burkhart also believes she and her son are victims, not criminals. "How much money are you getting for my head and for the head of my son?" she asked in court today. She is adamant her son did not commit a string of over 50 arson fires set in Los Angeles over four nights starting at the end of December, and insists he is mentally ill--a finding shared with doctors in British Columbia who saw Harry Burkhart as part of his legal troubles there in previous recent years. Burkhart also reiterated an early allegation that her son has been set up by "a very well organized criminal group of Nazis," reports L.A. Now.
Harry Burkhart's legal troubles in Canada could expand, as police in Vancouver work to determine if he can be connected to about a dozen unsolved arson fires there. He has also been linked to a fire in Germany in October.
While Dorothee Burkhart has been returned to jail and awaits a January 25 status update hearing, Harry Burkhart is also in jail, being held without bail, awaiting his January 24 arraignment.
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"If you see my son tell him I love him," said Dorothee Burkhart. "Never leave him
alone to die here.''
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