psychopath at the Maritime Museum claimed yesterday she had been robbed of justice.

She blasted the manslaughter charge faced by Leroy Burgess, accusing Government of seeking to avoid the publicity of a murder trial.

And she asked how a deranged prisoner on a work programme was allowed to roam a tourist area unsupervised.

"Is my sister's life so worthless?'' she exclaimed.

Miss Herkommer said it was her family, and not Burgess, who had been punished by Bermuda's justice system.

The young German broke her silence over her sister's death 24 hours after seeing Burgess sentenced to life imprisonment.

Burgess, a convicted rapist, had admitted manslaughter with diminished responsibility. It is unlikely he will ever be released.

He had denied premeditated murder, which could have carried the death penalty.

The Crown agreed to the lesser charge because psychiatrists diagnosed Burgess as an incurable psychopath who could not be held "mentally accountable'' for Antje Herkommer's death.

Burgess killed the 27-year-old German schoolteacher after pushing her into a dark tunnel at the museum on April 15 last year.

The Supreme Court heard how he tore off his victim's underpants, before choking her to death.

Det. Con. Tracy Adams said there was little or no supervision of the work programme, and nothing to identify prisoners to tourists.

He also said Burgess was able to have "intimate relations'' with girls while on the programme.

Yesterday Christine Herkommer, who works at Crisson jewellers in Queen Street, slammed Bermuda's criminal justice system.

She said Burgess' incurable psychopathic disorder must have been known before he was placed on a work programme.

"Imagine that it was a prisoner who was able to commit this crime!'' she exclaimed.

"How is it possible that a prisoner -- a convicted rapist -- is able to walk freely in a tourist area? "Antje was the victim of a savage killer. She suffered excruciating pain while dying in agony and fear.'' Miss Herkommer said the full horror of her sister's death was not brought out in the case.

The evidence did not reveal the appalling injuries suffered by her sister.

And she added: "Is my sister's life so worthless that the killer's charge was reduced from premeditated murder to a lesser charge of manslaughter? Is this justice? "Nothing has changed in his life! He will return to prison and live his life the way he did before the crime.

"He is able to live, eat, breath and see the sunrise! And what about my sister? Who is receiving the punishment here, my family or the killer? " It is a disgrace that in our society today the law defends the criminal.

Whether he is a psychopath or not, he killed somebody.

"Therefore, he should have been charged the maximum charge of premeditated murder.'' Miss Herkommer, who came to Bermuda in February last year, believed politics lay behind the reduced charge.

Manslaughter would be appropriate in cases where a drunk car driver killed a pedestrian, she said.

"Is this what the law is saying -- that my sister's death is comparable?'' Government had been anxious to avoid the damage to tourism of a drawn-out murder trial, she suggested.

Miss Herkommer said she and her family were still trying to come to terms with her sister's death.

"There is no way I can describe what we've been through. Our lives have been changed for ever.

"People can't begin to understand the suffering, unless something similar has happened to them.'' Miss Herkommer said she thought about her sister constantly, adding: "I even dream about her.'' She claimed the horror of what happened would eventually force her to leave Bermuda.

Miss Herkommer had nothing but praise, however, over the sympathetic way Police, particularly Chief Insp. Vic Richmond, had handled the case.

"My company has also been wonderfully understanding.'' Miss Herkommer said she would be prepared to talk to Burgess' devastated mother, who had requested a meeting.

"I think I ought to give her that chance,'' she added.

Edness denies Gov't pressure -- Page 3.