Viennese man admitted after strangling attack on mother

The man threw himself at the woman, knocked her to the ground and strangled her for several minutes in her apartment in Floridsdorf. Only a neighbor was able to prevent the 36-year-old from doing anything worse. On Wednesday, the man was sent to a forensic therapy center by a court.

Incapable of criminal responsibility at the time of the crime

The person affected has been suffering from the mental disorder for around seven years. It began in 2016 with depression, and soon psychotic episodes occurred. Because he repeatedly stopped taking his medication, he was also forcibly admitted to a psychiatric hospital. “It’s always about the fact that I am God,” the person affected explained to the jury presided over by Judge Christian Noe. Due to his condition, he was not responsible at the time of the crime, as the psychiatric expert Sigrun Rossmanith stated. Otherwise, the attack would have been charged as attempted murder.

Medication discontinued

In the spring of 2023, the law graduate stopped taking his medication again. “That was agreed with my doctor,” the man claimed in court. His mother denied this: “The doctor advised us against it,” she said tearfully on the witness stand. In the fall of 2023, the woman often visited the 36-year-old in his apartment with her husband or her other son because they were worried. Even then, the man threatened to strangle the woman. At the end of January 2024, at a family celebration, the 36-year-old’s poor condition became obvious. “We all looked at each other and thought: ‘Oh dear,'” said the mother. When she asked her son about it, he said: “Reality is gone.”

“I thought that was it”

A week later, the attack occurred. “I was just getting dressed to go for a walk and suddenly he opened the door to the apartment,” the woman reported. “He was completely beside himself. I thought that was it.” The mother wanted to flee into the study, but the 36-year-old quickly followed her and threw himself at her. “I was scared to death,” she said. “I said: ‘Stop, otherwise you’ll go to prison.’ Then he said: ‘I’m already in prison.'” Her loud screams alerted her husband, who was in the living room, to the attack. However, as he suffers from Parkinson’s disease, he did not have the strength to help his wife. A neighbor also heard the screams and fetched her husband, who then entered the apartment and dragged the 36-year-old away from the woman. Fortunately, according to forensic doctor Christian Reiter, the mother only suffered minor injuries that did not cause any lasting consequences.

While in custody, the affected person was given the medication via depot injection. “I think the medication is working well and I feel well adjusted,” said the 36-year-old. Expert Rossmanith recommends that he be admitted to a forensic therapeutic center in accordance with Section 21 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. A conditional admission is not advisable at this time. “He needs to be treated for a longer period of time, securely and to protect himself and others,” said Rossmanith, “otherwise this will happen again.” The court’s decision is already legally binding.