German Prosecutors charge that the 30 year-old Afghan man killed the woman in front of two of her children because she had converted to Christianity.
Previously, the 38-year-old woman had asked the man if he also wanted to convert to Christianity, a request that was "irreconcilable with his Muslim faith," prosecutors told the court in the city of Traunstein.
Two of her children, aged five and 11, saw how their mother was killed. Other people tried to stop the attacker from hitting him with a shopping cart.
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After he was arrested, the man claimed that he had killed the woman because his asylum seeker status was rejected.
His court hearing will last four days.