Suspicion of murder in the Viennese woman who was found dead in April 2023 is off the table

The 53-year-old was not taken into custody due to a lack of strong suspicion. It is now clear that the woman was not the victim of a homicide. As Nina Bussek, spokeswoman for the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office, explained, the murder investigations against the 53-year-old were closed at the end of the previous year in accordance with Section 190 Paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The suspicion of serious bodily harm was also not confirmed in the course of the investigation, said Bussek. It could not be proven that the man had anything to do with the blunt traumatic brain injury that was the cause of the woman’s death. “She probably died as a result of a fall. In any case, the man’s statements could not be refuted, which is why there was no actual reason for further prosecution of the accused with regard to a homicide,” said Bussek.

• More on this: 57-year-old dead in Vienna apartment – partner released from custody

Proceedings discontinued due to the death of the accused

However, the public prosecutor’s office brought a criminal complaint against the man at the Hernals District Court (BG) for abandoning an injured person. According to his own statements, the 53-year-old found his partner motionless on the ground on April 4, 2023 and instead of immediately calling the rescue, he wrote a message to his mother saying that his partner was no longer moving. The 53-year-old’s mother alerted the police. Officers from the Ottakring city police command then drove to the woman’s apartment in the evening, where the 53-year-old opened the door for them. The emergency services tried to resuscitate the lifeless woman and called the Vienna professional rescue service. A doctor could only determine that the 57-year-old was dead.

The trial against the 53-year-old had already been scheduled at the BG Hernals. “He didn’t show up for the first appointment,” said court spokeswoman Judith Vondrak on Tuesday afternoon. An alternative date has been set. However, it then turned out that the man had died in the meantime. “The proceedings were therefore discontinued due to the death of the accused,” said Vondrak.