20 Years Imprisonment After Murder in Vienna Apartment

"Every word the prosecutor says in his indictment is correct," said defense attorney Philipp Wolm at the beginning of the trial at the Vienna Regional Court. This does not make his client "more sympathetic," but he has "the courage and decency" to make a confession. "Unfortunately, the crime happened that way," Wolm clarified.

Defendant Avoided Maximum Sentence with Confession After Murder in Vienna Apartment

In sentencing, the "treacherous manner of execution" and the "base motives" weighed heavily. The defendant acted "out of pure greed" and "planned the crime very precisely," said the presiding judge in the reasoning for the verdict. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old escaped a life sentence. "Only because of the confession could a 20-year prison sentence be deemed sufficient," emphasized the judge.

The body of the 59-year-old victim at the time of the crime was found two days later by a worker in a suitcase on Quellenstraße in Vienna-Favoriten. The defendant was accused of luring the man to the crime scene and intentionally killing him there. The prosecutor spoke of an "absolutely agonizing death." The defendant - an Austrian citizen with Egyptian roots - acted "treacherously" and "perfidiously."

Victim Was "Very Lonely"

Debts totaling 15,000 euros are said to have been the decisive motive. The defendant and the victim met in February 2023 at a hotel in Döbling, where the 28-year-old worked as a receptionist and the 59-year-old was a long-term guest. "He was very lonely," a friend of the victim described as a witness. Therefore, the man moved into the hotel and spent one or two years "just in his room." Later, he sat in the lobby for days and sometimes even slept there: "He tried to make contacts."

The defendant is said to have taken advantage of this, having started working at the hotel after dropping out of medical school. The receptionist and the long-term guest outwardly became friends, at least the 59-year-old seemed to have that impression. He lent money to the defendant, who now described the 59-year-old in court as "peculiar." When asked by the presiding judge what he meant by that, the 28-year-old replied: "He plucked out his eyebrows. He had his tics."

Initially, in July 2024, 10,000 euros changed hands. A repayment was agreed upon by the end of the year. Subsequently, there were two more money transfers, with the receptionist pretending to the 59-year-old that he needed the money to pay a detective or to avert an execution proceeding.

Victim Allegedly Insisted on Promissory Note

However, according to the indictment, repayment was not possible for the 28-year-old as he also had other outstanding liabilities. At the end of November, the 59-year-old insisted on the issuance of a promissory note after being repeatedly put off by the 28-year-old when he brought up the money.

Because he was unable to do so, the 28-year-old was "forced to solve the problem in another way," according to the indictment. He temporarily rented an apartment on Humboldtgasse through a booking platform, procured XXL-sized garbage bags, cable ties, and gray duct tape from a hardware store, and lured the 59-year-old to the apartment on February 26 under the pretense of an amicable meeting. Once there, he allegedly overpowered the man, placed a sleep mask over his eyes, gagged him with a dish towel and duct tape, and strangled him with a cable tie.

Defendant: "It developed that way"

"I did not intend to kill him. It developed that way. It was not planned. It just happened," the defendant explained during his interrogation. He had intended to "come clean" with the 59-year-old and, if he rejected him, to kill him. During the conversation in the apartment, they "did not agree": "That's when I took the cable tie." The defendant described the killing actions in quite detail. He covered the victim's face with a dish towel: "I couldn't bear to look him in the face." He then wanted to dispose of the body, "but the suitcase was too heavy."

The deceased remained in the apartment for two days because the 28-year-old was unsure how to get rid of him, according to the indictment. On February 28, the rental agreement for the apartment ended, so the 28-year-old eventually procured a hard-shell suitcase. According to the indictment, "he packed the body headfirst into the hard-shell suitcase with bent hip and knee joints after partially covering the body with black garbage bags." When asked by the judge why he had tied up the deceased, the defendant said: "So that he fits compactly in the suitcase. So that the hands don't stick out."

Worker saw human foot in not fully closed suitcase

The 28-year-old placed the suitcase by garbage containers on Quellenstraße after checking out of the apartment. Shortly before 3:00 PM, a man engaged in clearance work noticed the container. The suitcase was not fully closed, and the worker noticed a human foot and raised the alarm. In the course of extensive investigations by the state criminal police office, the 28-year-old was identified as a prime suspect and arrested on March 7.

As it turned out, the man had not only "emptied" the deceased's account with his bank card, as the prosecutor put it, by withdrawing the maximum possible limit of 3,000 euros daily. By the time of his arrest, he had enriched himself by 24,000 euros. Additionally, after the crime, he engaged in cover-up actions by sending WhatsApp messages to the deceased's phone, creating the impression that the 59-year-old had not shown up for the meeting in the apartment.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.