Pensioners murdered with stab wounds in the face and stomach: “Transgender” sentenced to 20 years in prison

A jury found a 24-year-old from Slovakia guilty of the crime of murder in the Ried regional court on Tuesday. The “transgender” was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In addition, accommodation in a forensic-therapeutic center (formerly: Institution for mentally abnormal lawbreakers, note d. Red.) arranged. This institution regularly checks whether the defendant still poses a danger. If not, then a transfer to a regular prison is conceivable, where the remaining sentence would be served. However, it is also possible that the accused will not leave the forensic therapeutic center for the rest of his life. The defendant surprisingly accepted the judge’s ruling and the verdict is legally binding.

The jury trial against a 24-year-old from Slovakia began at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning in the Ried regional court. As reported, the “transgender” killed an 82-year-old pensioner in Geretsberg on October 5, 2023 with several brutal knife stabs in the upper body and head area. The defendant feels like a woman and wants to be addressed as “Vanessa”. “My client has felt like a woman since she was a child and wants to be perceived as such,” said defense attorney Josef Wimmer in his opening statement. “Vanessa”, whose real name is Jan, worked as a nurse. During the trial, the defendant was addressed as a woman by the court as well as by prosecutor Petra Stranzinger and the defense attorney.

• More on this: Murder of pensioners in Geretsberg: “Transgender” in court on March 26th

Personality disorder and very dangerous

The pensioner had been severely physically disabled since a stroke in 2006. In the last four years of his life before the terrible crime, the Innviertler was dependent on 24-hour care, said prosecutor Stranzinger. “No one in the family knew about the fact that she was a transgender woman,” said the prosecutor, adding: “The victim was considered a very cheerful person who fully accepted his health situation. Mentally the man was in great shape.”

The prosecutor said the defendant suffered from a personality disorder and was considered very dangerous. “On the day of the crime, Vanessa needed an outlet because of massive tension following a telephone argument with her boyfriend. At around 6:30 p.m. she killed him with two different knives. Four stabs in the chest, plus six head stabs that reached down to the bone, show the incredible brutality. The victim died from bleeding. The defendant acted under a mental disorder, but she was sane,” said Stranzinger.

It is very likely that further serious crimes, including homicides, will occur. “The prognosis is extremely unfavorable, which means that the conditions for criminal detention in a forensic therapeutic center are met,” said Stranzinger.

“I plead guilty”

“My client suffers from borderline syndrome,” said defense attorney Wimmer. The motive was sexual assault. “My client was also teased.” On the day of the crime there were arguments early in the morning. The argument escalated more and more, there were also sexual assaults, until the terrible act finally occurred, said the defense attorney in his opening statement.

“I plead guilty,” said the defendant at the beginning of the questioning. He has had psychological problems since his parents divorced ten years ago. Then he started drinking alcohol. Even getting married to her boyfriend didn’t improve the situation. “I had a difficult life with him.” He was repeatedly sexually harassed. “The pensioner would not have been physically capable of such attacks on his own,” said the public prosecutor.

• Also read: Murder alarm in Geretsberg: Nurse is said to have stabbed an 82-year-old

During the evidence trial, the presiding judge shows a Snapchat video. “Vanessa” and the pensioner can be seen on it. “But that looks completely different than what you describe. There you go towards him, it looks like fun,” said the judge.

At the time of the crime, the defendant had around 3 per mille of alcohol in his blood. “I can only remember the first bottle of wine,” said the transgender.

Stepdaughter: “He was such a fine person”

“He was always there for me and such a fine person. His motto was always, turn on your brain first, then your mouth,” said the victim’s stepdaughter in the witness stand. Her stepfather was always there for her and there were never any arguments. She didn’t talk to her stepfather about “Vanessa’s” transsexuality, which she did notice. “I didn’t tell a single person,” and ‘Vanessa’ didn’t mention it to her out of respect, the woman said through tears on the witness stand. “You don’t have to blame yourself at all, not for a second,” said the presiding judge to the woman from Innviertel.

The siblings of the brutally murdered pensioner described their brother as a “very, very loving person.” You could always have everything from him. “He preferred to avoid arguments,” said a younger brother. The defendant’s claim that he was not recognized by his siblings because of his transsexuality was rejected by the siblings. They unanimously described on the witness stand that they knew nothing about transsexuality. “I just thought the nurse was wearing a lot of makeup,” said one of the victim’s sisters.

The private party representative, i.e. the legal representative of the victim’s family, applied for bereavement damages of 15,000 euros each for the four siblings.

Legally a man

After a lunch break, the renowned psychiatrist Adelheid Kastner, who examined the defendant, presented her report. She made it clear right from the start that legally speaking it was a man. The defendant never applied for a gender change and never had any hormone treatment carried out. The treatment documents available from the past are rather poor. When questioned, the defendant stated that he was treated for his borderline personality disorder in Hamburg and Vienna, among other places. Despite intensive research, no corresponding confirmation was found, said Kastner.

The psychiatrist made it clear that the defendant was sane when he committed the crime despite a blood alcohol level of around 3.5 per mille. “Sometimes very surprising values ​​can be measured in people who regularly consume alcohol. The defendant carried out targeted actions. He was capable of acting and was able to think in a directed manner,” said Kastner.

Diagnosis: Defendant very dangerous

The accused never really accomplished anything in his life. The alcohol and drug abuse has been going on since the age of 14. “The main problem is that he acts very impulsively on a whim, without much thought,” said Kastner, who diagnosed “combined personality disorder.” Kastner did not give the defendant a good prognosis. It is to be feared that the man, if he has the opportunity to do so, could cause significant harm or even kill people again in the foreseeable future. Therefore, the basis for detention in a forensic-therapeutic center is in place.

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