Wrongfully Convicted – The Lessons of the Bank Robbery in Mór

Abstract

On 9 May 2002, eight people were killed in a bank robbery in Erste Bank’s branch in Mór. The serious crime has put tremendous pressure on the public to find the perpetrators as soon as possible. About a month and a half after the crime had been committed, Ede Kaiser and László Hajdú were arrested on 24 July 2002 – they were reasonably suspected of committing the bank robbery, according to the police. Based on the evidence gathered, they were charged in December 2003 and convicted a year later. In 2007, however, new evidence emerged, the weapons used in the crime were found and led to the real perpetrators. The innocent convict was acquitted in November 2009 in a retrial. The study shows what factors may have led to the wrong judgment. Thus, it covers the dangers of hot pursuit and the benefits of raster investigation, which could have identified the real perpetrators much sooner.