Ex-girlfriend shot in Pinzgau: 32-year-old arrested in Utrecht

A European arrest warrant had been issued against the 32-year-old Hungarian. During the investigation, it was reconstructed that the man had immediately fled to Germany with a rental car after the crime and then traveled by train to Utrecht in the Netherlands, informed the Federal Criminal Police Office.

Suspect fled to the Netherlands after the bloodshed

The Hungarian is said to have shot his former partner on a parking lot in the center of Maria Alm last Saturday at around 0:40 a.m. The two had arranged the meeting, during which personal items were also to be handed over. An acquaintance, who observed the crime from the car's rearview mirror, immediately alerted the police. Upon the arrival of the authorities, the suspect had already disappeared. He is believed to have used a silver-gray Skoda Octavia with the license plate S-685WV for the escape, which he had rented a few days earlier. With this car, he drove to Germany after the crime. It is currently unknown where he parked the Skoda Octavia.

32-year-old arrested while leaving a supermarket

The accused was arrested on Thursday at 8:50 a.m. while leaving a supermarket in Utrecht after a five-day escape. The arrest was carried out by FAST Netherlands and special forces of the Dutch police in coordination with the Austrian authorities, as the Federal Criminal Police Office announced in a release on Thursday. They had taken over the manhunt for the fugitive on the 6th. The suspect was observed by a special unit and apparently did not resist arrest. The investigators are still withholding further information. Details are currently not being disclosed for tactical reasons, said a spokesperson for the Federal Criminal Police Office to APA. There was no answer to the questions of whether the suspect has already confessed to the killing of the woman and whether the murder weapon has been secured.

In collaboration with the Salzburg State Criminal Police Office and international partner agencies, the search measures were immediately intensified and coordinated, explained the Federal Criminal Police Office. The target investigators of the Federal Criminal Police Office activated the European ENFAST network (European Network of Fugitive Active Search Teams). "In close cooperation with the specialized search units FAST Hungary and FAST Netherlands, the international search was quickly coordinated and implemented," it said. According to the Dutch police, the suspect will be brought before the competent court in Amsterdam, where a decision will be made regarding his extradition to Austria.

Joy over quick manhunt success

"The recent arrest once again demonstrates the effectiveness and impact of Austrian target investigation at the Federal Criminal Police Office. Through international contacts and highly professional work, wanted criminals are quickly taken out of circulation both domestically and abroad," responded Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP). Federal Criminal Police Office Director Andreas Holzer also expressed his satisfaction with the swift success of the investigation. "This case underscores the outstanding importance of the target investigation network for international cooperation in crime fighting. Without seamless information exchange and the highly professional collaboration of the involved units, such a rapid arrest would hardly have been possible. I thank all colleagues at home and abroad for their dedicated efforts," said Holzer.

The further investigations regarding the violent crime are being conducted by the Salzburg State Criminal Police Office. "This arrest significantly contributes to the calm and safety of the Salzburg population," explained Salzburg State Police Director Bernhard Rausch. "I thank you for the excellent investigations into this violent crime, and especially for laying the groundwork for this successful investigation by the State Criminal Police Office."

On Sunday, a European arrest warrant was issued against the Hungarian, and the police also published wanted images of the suspect. The man was intensively searched for. The Hungarian had a handgun officially registered, thus legally possessed, and this was likely the weapon used in the crime. The gun ownership card was only issued this year. A prerequisite for such a certificate is, among other things, a clean record.

Victim reported suspect last year for dangerous threat

It has now also become known that the victim reported the alleged perpetrator last year for dangerous threat. The 34-year-old German and the 32-year-old Hungarian had a relationship that ended last year. At the beginning of December, the woman then filed a report against her ex-boyfriend for dangerous threat and property damage, confirmed the spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office, Florian Weinkamer, on Monday to the APA, corresponding to media reports. Specifically, the Hungarian is said to have gained access to the 34-year-old's apartment and damaged an Advent wreath there. The accused denied this. Furthermore, he had repeatedly tried to contact the woman and also sent her a mobile message in which he announced he would "make her life a nightmare," said Weinkamer. Shortly after the turn of the year, however, the public prosecutor's office closed the investigation.

"The mobile message, according to its wording, did not constitute a dangerous threat, as it requires a specific threat of injury to body, freedom, honor, property, or the most personal sphere of life," explained Weinkamer. And the property damage could not be proven either. Therefore, the proceedings were closed in January.

(APA/Red)

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