Tennis: assassin who stabbed Monica Seles in the back is dead Sports

The pictures of the assassination went around the world!

30 years ago, Günter Parche stabbed tennis star Monica Seles (49) with a knife. Now BILD found out: The assassin died in August 2022!

Patch († 68) had lived in a nursing home in Nordhausen, Thuringia, for the last 14 years of his life. There he lived in a single room. For the last four weeks before his death he had only lain in bed until he finally fell asleep peacefully one night. He had previously received palliative care.

During his stay at the home, he was always inconspicuous and took part in the leisure activities: afternoons at the cinema, handicrafts and reading the newspaper. The nursing staff dressed him, washed him. When he could only lie in bed, there was 20 to 30 minutes of individual therapy. Meal times were 11:30 a.m. (lunch), 2:30 p.m. (coffee) and 5:30 p.m. (dinner). Special feature: Parche does not eat cheese. His sister Ina was his official supervisor.

Parche, who came from Görsbach, ten kilometers from Nordhausen, was a fanatical admirer of in the 1990s Tennis-Superstar Steffi Graf (53) and at the time could not bear that Seles had ousted his heroine from the top of the world rankings. He decided to do something to “hurt Seles so much that she couldn’t play tennis for a long time,” Parche testified in court at the time.

His knife attack on April 30, 1993 caused horror around the world. In the quarter-finals, on the Rothenbaum’s Center Court, Parche sneaked up behind Seles, who was sitting on her bench, and stabbed her in the back with a 23-centimetre-long boning knife. Fortunately, because Seles moved a little forward, the knife only penetrated two centimeters. The tennis player suffered only minor physical injuries, but had to struggle with the psychological consequences for years to come.

After two trials, Parche was sentenced to two years’ probation for aggravated assault. He was in prison for only the months between the crime and the conviction on October 13, 1993. After that, he was the trained lathe operator and was free.

After the assassination, his victim Monica Seles was never as strong as before. Before the assassination, she had won eight of the previous ten Grand Slam tournaments, after which she only managed one Grand Slam title (Australian Open 1996). In 2008 she retired after a total of 53 tournament wins. The native Serbian, who also has American citizenship, currently lives in the US state of Florida. She is a motivational speaker, is involved in the fight against eating disorders and helps dogs. In 2014 she married billionaire Tom Golisano (81). She still plays tennis for fun.