Simone Lugner: Man threatened her with death during interview

The Vienna public prosecutor’s office has brought charges against a 29-year-old man who is said to have threatened Richard Lugner’s widow Simone (42) with death during a radio interview. The Turkish citizen is accused of making dangerous threats, as the criminal complaint shows.

The incident occurred on December 19th around 8 a.m. in a bar in Vienna’s Gasometer. While Simone Lugner was giving a radio interview there, the accused is said to have suddenly banged on the glass of the closed bar. According to the criminal complaint, he shouted: “I’ll kill you all!” He is then said to have knocked over chairs from a nearby restaurant.

For the 42-year-old widow of the late building contractor Richard Lugner (1932-2024), the incident was particularly worrying because it happened just one day after another disturbing incident: a photo had been desecrated on her late husband’s grave in the Grinzing cemetery. Lugner then filed a complaint.

The accused, who was born in Tyrol, admitted during his police interrogation that he had knocked on the window. However, he vehemently denies making a death threat. “I don’t want to kill anyone, who can think something like that,” he is quoted as saying in the investigation files.

The 29-year-old, who is said to have a criminal record, stated that he suffered from psychological problems. It initially remained unclear whether he was also responsible for desecrating the photo on the grave. Although he admitted that he had visited the Grinzing cemetery before, he did not find Richard Lugner’s grave. He only knows Simone Lugner from the media.

The accused now has to answer before a single judge at the Regional Court for Criminal Matters in Vienna. If convicted, he faces a prison sentence of up to one year or a fine. A date for the main hearing has not yet been set. Simone Lugner, who is represented by lawyer Florian Höllwarth, is expected to testify as a witness.