Murder trial on Thursday: 36-year-old faces life imprisonment

The signs are clear before today’s murder trial against a 36-year-old German who is said to have killed his wife with numerous knife stabs in Neukirchen an der Enknach on March 22, 2025. Everything points to a unanimous guilty verdict from the jury. What is known so far is that there was an argument between the couple, who got married in 2020, on the way home from a celebration in Braunau. At home, the accused, who is in custody at the Ried prison, is said to have stabbed his 44-year-old wife several times with a kitchen knife with a 19 centimeter long blade. The victim died as a result of internal and external bleeding, the OÖN reported.

According to the police, the accused then fell asleep next to his wife’s body. The woman was found by her 20-year-old daughter. A 15-year-old also lost his mother as a result of the terrible act. The defendant, who confessed during previous interviews, is not the biological father of the two children.

“Torn from life in the most brutal way”

The trial in Ried began at nine o’clock. The public interest is huge. It is estimated that there are more than 130 people in the jury room, many of whom have to stand. “The defendant took his wife’s life in the most brutal way for trivial reasons,” said public prosecutor Jakob Hippmair when presenting the indictment. The couple met in 2013 and got married in 2020. “About a year and a half ago, problems arose for the first time due to the defendant’s short temper,” said Hippmair. The woman repeatedly told her husband that she wanted a divorce. “That’s what happened on the night of March 21st to 22nd, 2025 when driving home from a discotheque. An argument arose that escalated at home,” said Hippmair. The defendant was so angry by his wife’s grin that he finally took a knife. First he threatened her for several minutes. The victim tried to defend himself, then he stabbed the woman several times with the knife,” says the public prosecutor. A total of more than 30 stab and cut injuries were found. The 44-year-old bled to death.

Hippmair announced that as part of the evidence process, video recordings from the living room where the terrible act took place would also be shown in the courtroom. “Pictures say more than 1000 words,” said the prosecutor.

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