Attempted Murder of Husband in Upper Austria: 15-Year Prison Sentence Upheld
She had filed an appeal against the verdict of the Regional Court of Ried with the Supreme Court (OGH) and an appeal against the sentence with the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Linz. The appeal was already dismissed, making the conviction legally binding. On Monday, the OLG only had to decide on the sentence.
Years-Long Trial with Three Legal Proceedings
This concludes a years-long trial. There have been three legal proceedings in the case against the now 34-year-old. She had mixed calming medication into the food of her 40-year-old husband, with whom she has four children, in their shared home in Innviertel and inflicted a cut on his neck while he was asleep. The victim survived thanks to an emergency operation.
In the first trial in spring 2023, the judges suspended the verdict because the jury found the defendant guilty only of grievous bodily harm and not attempted murder. In the fall, a new trial was held with new jurors and professional judges. This ended with a 14-year sentence for attempted murder, against which both the prosecution and defense appealed. This verdict was overturned by the OGH because a witness had not been heard. In September 2024, the case was tried for the third time in Ried, resulting in a 15-year sentence for the woman, who again filed a full appeal.
Defendant Avoided a Defamation Trial
Defense attorney Andreas Mauhart pointed out that his client has been in pre-trial detention for 32 months, where the conditions are worse than in prison - there, one can work and have a "residence." She is also completely isolated from her children. The lawyer demanded a "significant reduction" of the sentence. The public prosecutor's office saw no reason to do so. Their representative also pointed out that there was no defamation trial against the woman only because the daughter she accused was not yet of legal age.
The appellate court did assess some mitigating and aggravating factors slightly differently than the first court, but ultimately, the imposed sentence of 15 years remained unchanged.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.