He wore a black tie. As a “sign of mourning,” as his defense attorney emphasized. Yesterday, a 46-year-old from Weißenkirchen im Attergau had to answer for the murder of his wife. In the evening, the accused was not legally sentenced to 20 years in prison. The jury unanimously found him guilty of murder.
He is said to have shot the 42-year-old in the head at the dining table at the beginning of January this year at close range. The two have three children of elementary school age together, two more come from a previous relationship of the woman who was killed. One of the five children had to watch the bloody deed. It was the nation’s first suspected murder of a woman in 2022.
The former hunter legally owned the pistol and three rifles. Why he had taken up arms remained unclear during the trial. The defender spoke of a killing “in the affect”, i.e. manslaughter. The only strange thing is that the accused could not name an event that is said to have triggered his “violent emotional storm”. There was an argument about housework. The public prosecutor, on the other hand, spoke of a “flawless murder”.
At that time, the marriage had already broken down due to countless disputes. Nevertheless, the forester, who comes from Germany, and his wife wanted to start over in Sweden because of the Austrian corona measures. But it did not get to that. On January 8th, the defendant slept on the sofa in the living room after getting drunk on beer and schnapps. He had previously fetched his pistol from the basement.
“They had no intention of killing and yet they got the gun out of the basement. That doesn’t explain it to me,” one of the judges pointed out to a contradiction. “I had suicidal thoughts,” said the defendant. He felt “worthless and incapable”. He was “insanely” sorry for the act, he said almost in a whisper. Immediately after the shot, the 46-year-old called the police and was arrested without resistance.
During his questioning of witnesses, which was conducted contradictorily via video, the stepson recalled that the accused is said to have said hours before the crime: “I can’t stand this woman any longer.” But the stepfather didn’t want to remember that anymore. The older children have been traumatized since the crime. Their three children, who were not at home at the time of the crime, stayed with relatives. (fam)
Source: Nachrichten
