The jury ruled unanimously that the act amounted to murder. The accused accepted the verdict, the public prosecutor made no statement, so the verdict is not final.
“That should not have happened”
The crime took place on September 6th last year in the defendant’s house near Villach. He, his cousin and the eventual victim had consumed magic mushrooms. While the drugs had little effect on the accused and the cousin, the victim, a 22-year-old man, experienced massive mood swings. The young man became aggressive, tore down a mirror cabinet in the bathroom and verbally and physically attacked the 23-year-old.
To calm him down, it was said, he grabbed the 22-year-old’s neck several times. Finally, he used a neck clamp: a hold where the victim was prone and the defendant put his arm around his friend’s neck and squeezed – with deadly results. The accused also admitted: “I’m so sorry for the family, that shouldn’t have happened,” he said with tears.
Murder or Manslaughter?
The jury’s job was to determine whether the crime was murder, as alleged, or manslaughter, as suggested by the defense. This means a killing that takes place under the influence of a “generally understandable, violent emotion”. The accused raised this responsibility for the first time in the process: According to this, the 22-year-old first insulted his family and then claimed to have had an affair with his girlfriend at the time.
Referring to the much lower penalty (five to ten years for manslaughter versus up to life for murder), the chairman of the jury, Christian Liebhauser-Karl, was surprised that this version was only mentioned now: “Neither in front of the police, nor in the It was mentioned during the reconstruction of the crime or during the detention hearings.”
“A Stupid Bua, Not a Cold-Blooded Killer”
It is “difficult to understand” to face a charge of murder with open eyes when the situation is actually very different. The accused emphasized that he was angry – he “didn’t think”, but when he became aware of the situation, he immediately let go. In any case, he knew that using a neck clamp could be fatal, said the kickboxer.
Defense attorney Manfred Arbacher-Stöger emphasized in his plea that his client only gained confidence after a change of defense attorney and is now telling “the truth”. In the course of the evening, his client was “trotted out for two hours continuously by the opponent. At some point it was over to Häferl.” And: “In my opinion, this is a stupid Bua, not a cold-blooded killer.”
Prosecutor Lisa Kuschinsky pointed out that the accused only brought up his current version of events at the trial. And even if there was this statement by the victim: the contact between the accused and his ex-girlfriend had been interrupted for a long time. Even if it was so, the question of the generally understandable emotion arises: “Can you imagine killing a friend on purpose in such a case?” She addressed the jury.
They came to the decision after just over an hour of deliberation. Judge Liebhauser-Karl justified the amount of imprisonment with the confession of the accused and also the limited ability to dispose due to drug use – but this is offset by a previous conviction for serious bodily harm. The court therefore considered 15 years in prison to be sufficient: “Although you will surely remember for the rest of your life that you killed your friend.”
Source: Nachrichten
