Fire set in front of ex and rival’s apartment – 12 years in prison for Carinthian

The man was accused of setting fire to an apartment building in Villach last summer in order to kill his former partner and her new boyfriend. The verdict was not yet final.

At the start of the trial in March, the defendant, who comes from Romania, only partially pleaded guilty before the jury presided over by Judge Bernd Lutschounig. He had caused the fire, but he had not intended to kill anyone. He had simply wanted to scare his ex-partner’s new boyfriend. No one was injured in the fire because it was discovered in time.

Appeal filed

After deliberating for less than an hour, the jury unanimously decided, by eight votes to zero, that the crime had been attempted murder. Judge Lutschounig justified the sentence by saying that although it was only an attempt, the fact that three crimes had occurred simultaneously – two attempted murders and one arson – made the situation even more serious. The defendant asked for three days to consider the matter, and the public prosecutor’s office appealed against the sentence.

On the evening of August 8, 2023, the 56-year-old visited his ex-partner, who was now living with her new partner, in the apartment. An argument broke out, and the woman’s new partner also testified that the Romanian then threatened to kill her over the phone.

Wanted to “scare” rivals

The following night, the 56-year-old bought petrol at a petrol station, said prosecutor Christian Pirker. He had a taxi take him to the house and spread the petrol in front of his rival’s apartment door. The fire then broke out – the defendant said that the fumes had “accidentally” ignited from his cigarette. He had only wanted to scare his ex’s new boyfriend with the petrol.

The Romanian’s defense attorney said that his client had only bought about three liters of gasoline. This was an indication that he did not want to start a big fire. The defendant assumed that the fire would go out on its own on the stone floor. He would never have wanted to harm his former partner, whom he still loved.

Neighbor raised the alarm

The fact that nothing more happened during the fire was thanks to a neighbor: he noticed the fire when he wanted to go to the toilet shortly before 4 a.m. If that had been just a few minutes later, the whole building would have been ablaze, an expert explained in court. The gasoline was not only spilled on the floor, but also on the door and the wall.

The defense had criticized the fact that the man’s former partner did not want to testify in court despite being summoned several times. The fact that she was afraid of the defendant was a “defensive claim” because, contrary to her statements, she had in fact had good contact with the Romanian.

In his closing statement, prosecutor Pirker had primarily addressed the defendant’s responsibility for only wanting to “scare” his ex’s new boyfriend: “How is he supposed to know that it was the defendant who spilled the petrol?” The 56-year-old had acted purposefully and had not “spilt the petrol just anywhere” but in such a way that the biggest possible fire could start – “and not in broad daylight when the residents are at work, but shortly before 4 a.m. This has nothing to do with being scared, this was about a desire for revenge.”