According to the indictment, he is said to have injured the woman so severely in November 2021 that she died the following day. The expert had also located “severe physical abuse”. The judgment was not final for the time being.
The eight jurors appreciated the opinions and testimonies presented in the evidentiary proceedings and, after around two hours of deliberation, finally came to the unanimous conclusion that the man had no intention of killing. Judge Nadja Obwieser spoke of a degree of punishment that was “appropriate for the guilt and the act” and explained the “limited sanity” of the 35-year-old, who had multiple criminal records and was on drugs at the time of the crime, and the fact that his last conviction was a long time ago, as mitigating circumstances. His criminal record, as well as the fact that the victim was his partner and therefore a relative, had an aggravating effect on the verdict.
Tearfully protested innocence
The native Serb had previously protested his innocence in tears in court. The expert forensic doctor Walter Rabl stated in his report “numerous acts of violence” and spoke of “serious physical abuse” with “massive punches and kicks to the head and upper body”. The 28-year-old died of a brain hemorrhage the day after the alleged crime – on November 25, 2021 – in the Innsbruck clinic. This hemorrhage was “hardly due to a direct impact”, but to a “dynamic, energetic fall with impact on the back of the head,” explained Rabl. In addition, her intracranial pressure had increased and she had inhaled blood that came from a severe injury to the upper lip.
In their plea to the jury, the public prosecutor’s office spoke of a “clear act” and underlined that the accused could have grabbed the woman’s head and thrown it against a smooth surface in the course of his acts of violence. Finally, tufts of hair and traces of blood were secured in the apartment. The prosecutor was certain that the accused acted intentionally, as well as the fact that the woman’s injuries had been caused by kicks and punches by the accused.
No entitlement to permanent compensation for pain and suffering
The young woman fell on November 23 when his mandate was not in the apartment at all, according to the defense attorney’s line of argument. Due to health problems, she fell several times against different objects in the apartment and was seriously injured. The accused tried to help her and tried to persuade her to go to the clinic. He repeated several times that his client was under the influence of drugs. He gives no motive, the two had had a harmonious relationship of almost seven years, the defender continued.
The 35-year-old now also has to pay funeral expenses of around 3,900 euros. However, a claim for permanent compensation for pain and suffering in the amount of 20,000 euros raised by the mother of the deceased was not granted. If convicted of murder, the man faces 20 years to life imprisonment.
Source: Nachrichten
