BERLIN — A man faces a possible five-year prison sentence for allegedly causing a fatal accident driving the wrong way down a German autobahn after winning more than $670,000 Cdn. gambling and going on a 36-hour alcohol and cocaine-fueled binge.

The 51-year-old man, identified only as Marko M., went on trial in Wiesbaden state court Tuesday for negligent homicide and six counts of causing bodily harm.

Prosecutors say the man admitted partying in several cities after winning a casino jackpot including a stop in Bad Homburg where he won another $27,000 They say he then caused the 2011 multi-car accident that killed one man and injured six.

He cried as he gave his opening statement, telling survivors of the 2011 crash and their relatives he was “unbelievably sorry,” the dpa news agency reported.

“I still don’t understand it to this day,” he said. “I’ve been asking myself about it every day for three years. I hate myself for it.”

After hitting the jackpot in a Wiesbaden casino, the man admitted to authorities he went on a 36-hour partying binge with friends and relatives in several cities prosecutors’ spokesman Andreas Winckelmann told The Associated Press.

“During this whole time he was always partying, drinking and doing drugs,” Winckelmann said.

Pleas are not entered in the German system, but a court expert has said the man was so intoxicated that he can’t be held entirely responsible for his actions, Winckelmann said.

The suspect ended up on the autobahn in his Volkswagen Touareg SUV going the wrong way. His head-on crash with another car killed a man and seriously injured the man’s wife and son, Winckelmann said.

He then drove another 200 metres and collided with another car, injuring both occupants. Two other people were injured when they were unable to stop in time and slammed into the accident scene.

Winckelmann said the suspect then fled on foot with his winnings, walking about 40 kilometres into Frankfurt where he slept overnight at a friend’s house before turning himself in to police the next day.