“I just hope that there won’t be another victim. I really feel sorry for the women. I can only hope that we won’t see each other here again,” said Judge Stefan Kiesl when pronouncing the verdict against a 47-year-old suspect from the district Schärding.
Between January 1st and January 25th, the accused stalked and threatened an Innviertel woman with whom he apparently had a relationship in the past, and also her new partner. “Your criminal record is really heavy. You seem to be one of the incorrigible category,” said Judge Kiesl at the beginning of the trial.
The defendant has seven prior convictions. The way for the accused in the jury courtroom is a short one. He has been in custody in Ried Prison since his arrest a few weeks ago. “Your client has apparently already applied for an ankle bracelet himself. But this must be done at the prison,” says Kiesl to defense attorney Harald Schnoetzlinger, who keeps his opening speech short: “The defendant will agree to the criminal complaint plead guilty.” The charge of unlawful and persistent persecution, coercion and damage to property against public prosecutor Franz-Joseph Zimmer is a tough one.
Sex dates for “hot kitty”
The accused, who has no less than five relevant convictions due to persistent persecution, sent more than 800 emails to the woman within two weeks. But that was the most harmless thing. The accused registered with a photo and the woman’s address on an Internet sex portal. Name: Hot Kitty. There he made sex dates. The unsuspecting men drove to the woman’s apartment, the journey was of course in vain.
“How do you think a woman feels when suddenly there are horny men on her doorstep?” The accused’s response: “Yes, she didn’t treat me well either, but it was a mistake and I regret it. After my last conviction, I was in therapy and already on the right track, but then I met this woman. I thought she was the one, but she lied to me and then I went back to my old ways.” Kiesl is not very convinced of this justification, on the contrary: “You’ve said the same thing to other judges, that’s obvious from your criminal record. Why should we give you a chance if you didn’t take the previous ones? The women don’t belong to you .”
Prosecutor Zimmer takes an interest in the stalker’s time management. “How did it all turn out besides work?” “Either in the morning before work or in the evening.”
In addition, the accused damaged the cars of the woman and her boyfriend by scratching the words “whore” and “RIP” (rest in peace, translated rest in peace, editor’s note) into the paintwork of the cars, and also stabbed them he ripped the tires and tore the license plate off the car.
Because of the confession, there is no need to question the main victim as a witness. “My client is still suffering from insomnia. She lost a lot of weight and didn’t dare to walk to work for a while. She’s in really bad shape,” says lawyer Tanja Baminger-Dvorak, who represents the victim in court and demands a partial compensation of 1000 euros. This sum is acknowledged by the accused.
“This dimension of stalking is unbelievable and so massive that I have never come across it in 21 years of work. You were only the second stalker I had to lock up. Victims often suffer from it for the rest of their lives,” says prosecutor Zimmer in his closing argument.
“I would like to point out once again that my client took full responsibility for his actions today,” says defense attorney Schnoetzlinger.
The 47-year-old has the last word: “I’m sorry, I really get it. I don’t want to have such feelings anymore that I let myself be carried away by something like that.”
14 months in prison
Kiesl sentenced the accused to one year of unconditional imprisonment, the maximum sentence would have been 18 months. He also revokes two months of parole, giving the stalker 14 months in prison.
“The criminal energy involved in the crimes was extremely high. I have absolutely no understanding of this, you only cause suffering. The possibilities that the Internet offers for stalking are almost limitless, you have used these possibilities almost to the limit. What am I supposed to do I have to say that I’m at a loss for words,” says Kiesl in justifying the final judgment.
Source: Nachrichten
