He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, although the verdict is not yet legally binding. "I take responsibility for the act," he told the jury court. And further: "I don't know what came over me."

In the reasoning for the verdict, presiding judge Stefan Apostol referred to the "particularly bestial manner" of the 40-year-old. Despite his confession, his previous good character, and his voluntary surrender, "no other punishment than life imprisonment" could be deemed sufficient. The 40-year-old requested time to consider after consulting with his defense attorney Ina-Christin Stiglitz. The daughters of the deceased, aged 21 and 22, were awarded 25,000 euros each by the court as compensation for their grief. A neighbor who had to listen to the 49-year-old's death struggle received 2,000 euros.

In the morning - the incriminated crime occurred around 8:30 AM - "a switch flipped. I lost control over myself," stated the previously law-abiding man. He had met his partner in 2023 through a dating platform. "After a failed relationship, she longed for true love," the prosecutor described at the beginning of the trial. The relationship then proceeded "violently free and harmonious," the prosecutor noted.

Defendant in Vienna Engaged with Femicide Reports for Months

Nevertheless, the defendant, who was recently employed part-time as an event staff, "developed the belief that he had to kill her," explained the prosecutor. The trigger for this was "that he lost himself in depression and fear of loss." The man had engaged with media reports about femicides for months and googled the penalties for murdering women. "He preferred to see her dead than in the hands of another man," the prosecutor remarked in conclusion.

From the defendant's perspective, there apparently was no reason to doubt the relationship with the 49-year-old, as shown by chats between the two that were read during the trial. In one conversation, the woman assured her partner that he was "certainly not a stopgap" and she "did not see it as if there were other men out there." She emphasized "the loving nature and humor" of her partner but mentioned that his "constant reading of femicide reports" bothered her. During the trial, the defendant repeatedly stated that he had suicidal thoughts. He is also said to have spoken about killing his girlfriend if she left him.

"I Plead Fully Guilty," Emphasized the Defendant Accused of Murder

"I fully confess my guilt," emphasized the defendant accused of murder during his examination. When asked if he had been very jealous, he replied, "You could say that." He knew that his partner had left her husband in a previous relationship. "I was not doing well mentally. A mix of depression, midlife crisis, and fear of loss," stated the 40-year-old.

According to the indictment, the woman died violently when the 40-year-old delivered numerous punches to her entire body after waking up in the morning, threw her against furniture, and then strangled her with his right arm. The presiding judge spoke of a "martyrdom" that the victim had to endure. According to a forensic report, the woman died after a prolonged struggle for survival due to compression of the soft tissues of the neck with a fracture of the hyoid bone, resulting in oxygen deprivation to the brain.

The psychiatric expert Peter Hofmann identified an asymmetrical relationship between the defendant and the victim in his analysis. The victim was a "woman standing in life" and mother of two children. In contrast, the defendant had been experiencing a "decline" for years. With the breakup of his previous relationship, he suffered a "deep humiliation." However, the defendant did not have a severe and lasting mental disorder, and his depression was not severe enough to explain such an act, said Hofmann. The expert described the case as a "typically male" violent crime. "Women don't do things like this," he added.

Immediately after the crime, the defendant called his best friend and confessed the act to him. The friend then alerted the police. During his testimony as a witness, he explained that the defendant's mental state had "deteriorated massively" since the previous breakup in recent years. Initially, the defendant only talked about killing himself. "Back then, I still felt sorry for him," the witness explained. The defendant had "obsessively" consumed political content on the internet, such as "Kickl videos," the witness mentioned. He had become a "raging FPÖ fan," said the witness.

In her closing argument, the prosecutor accused the defendant of having "planned the act long in advance." In the 48 hours before the crime, he had viewed 50 articles on the topic of femicide. He could remember everything precisely and had acted "purposefully and orderly."

In Austria, women experiencing violence can find help and information, among others, at the Women's Helpline: 0800-222-555, www.frauenhelpline.at; at the Association of Autonomous Austrian Women's Shelters (AÖF) at www.aoef.at; Violence Protection Center Vienna: https://www.gewaltschutzzentrum.at/wien/ and at the 24-hour Women's Emergency Hotline of the City of Vienna: 01-71719 as well as the Women's Shelter Emergency Hotline at 057722 and the Austrian Violence Protection Centers: 0800/700-217; Police Emergency Number: 133

(APA/Red)

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