“The victim had a great guardian angel,” said the prosecutor on Tuesday at the regional court, where the 31-year-old had to answer for attempted murder. The defendant did not dispute the total of three incriminating stabs, but argued that he should withdraw from the attempt.
“He’s a very good friend, like a little brother for me,” the accused stated at the beginning of the trial. The man, who lives in Upper Austria and is ten years his junior, visited him regularly in Vienna. At the end of January it was that time again: “You saw each other so seldom that you drank beer and Jägermeister when you saw each other.” Both were quite drunk when the 31-year-old brought his buddy to the platform at an advanced hour. On the way there, for no good reason – it was about the 21-year-old’s ex-girlfriend, among other things – there was an argument, during which the younger man said in anger that the 31-year-old should “go to his father”.
He died a few years ago as a result of cirrhosis of the liver. The 31-year-old – according to his own statements not entirely averse to alcohol since the Corona pandemic – got the comment down the wrong throat. “I was so angry,” he told the jury, “I didn’t think anything at the moment. It was all so quick. I took out the knife, unfortunately opened it and stabbed it.”
“Hawara, you stab?” said the 21-year-old before collapsing. As a witness, he now said in retrospect: “We were both extremely drunk and we didn’t want to argue.” The accused apologized to him immediately afterwards: “He was sorry.”
Above all, however, the accused asked the seriously injured man for his mobile phone and called the rescue service, which defender Manfred Arbacher-Stöger interpreted as a suitable resignation from the attempted murder. At best, his client should be convicted of bodily harm.
In the courtroom, there were conciliatory gestures between the accused and the victim. The 31-year-old shook hands with the younger man and tearfully apologized, which the 21-year-old accepted. When the defense attorney asked the witness whether he wanted his friend to be severely punished at all, judge Ulrich Nachtlberger intervened before the 21-year-old could answer: “Otherwise it will be a soap opera.”
Source: Nachrichten
