13 Years in Prison for Killing of Recreational Hunter
One year after the sensational homicide in Maur, the verdict was handed down on Thursday, 25 September 2025, at the Uster District Court.
«Silence after the shot»
Intentional killing, 13-year custodial sentence
The defendant Sebastian K. (40) was found guilty of the intentional killing of his uncle Hans-Rudolf B.
The court imposed a custodial sentence of 13 years.
The act: Recreational hunter found dead in Maur
On 24 February 2024, the 71-year-old recreational hunter was found dead on an outdoor staircase in Maur in the canton of Zurich. The well-known recreational hunter and leaseholder of hunting district 104 had died at the scene following resuscitation attempts. Investigations by the Zurich Cantonal Police led to the arrest of the nephew on the same day; he operates a dog boarding facility in the area.
Media reported on a years-long family dispute over property and inheritance matters. According to the indictment, the conflict escalated when the defendant struck his uncle 25 times on the head with a piece of wood on the morning of the act, fatally injuring him.
Uster District Court: No mitigating circumstances
The Uster District Court followed the prosecution and classified the act not as manslaughter but as intentional killing. There were no mitigating circumstances, the court stated. A medication taken by the defendant had likewise had no influence on his capacity to make decisions.
Verdict not yet final
The convicted man expressed remorse over the act during the trial. The verdict is not yet legally binding; both the defence and the prosecution may appeal to the higher court.
The case had attracted considerable attention in the Zurich region, not least because of the well-known victim and the family background. In addition to police and emergency services, the Forensic Institute Zurich and the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the University of Zurich were also deployed at the scene.
Added value:
- Game meat: Natural, healthy – or dangerous?
- Game meat from a recreational hunter? – Carrion on the plate!
- According to studies, there are health risks associated with the consumption of wild game meat
- Nutrition: The Civilized Palate
- Wild game meat from hunters is carrion
- Wild game meat cannot be organic
- Meat from wild animals is not organic game
- Dementia: How harmful is venison?
- Venison makes you sick
- Lead residues in wild game meat products
- Wild game meat: Risks, lead and hunting myths
- Warning: Caution regarding wild game meat from recreational hunters
- Hunters also lie when selling meat
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier The Role and Criticism of Recreational Hunters we shed light on the training, power and self-image of recreational hunters. What the research says about this is shown by Hunting fact-checked: the state of research.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
