Speitel worked as a clerk[1] in the office of lawyer Klaus Croissant, alongside her husband Volker Speitel (who was also an RAF terrorist). During this time she helped form an information system of communication between many imprisoned terrorists across Germany.[2] Volker went underground in 1974, and Angelika followed suit when she was suspected of involvement in the Jürgen Ponto murder in 1977.[3]
In a forest in Dortmund,[5] on 24 September 1978, Speitel was involved in target practice with some other RAF members (Michael Knoll and Werner Lotze) when they were ambushed by police. A shoot-out followed where one policeman (Hans-Wilhelm Hans) was shot dead, and Speitel and Knoll were both shot down and arrested. Lotze managed to escape, and Knoll later died of his injuries.[6]
