“It was not my intention to fatally injure her”, defends the 42-year-old man at the Salzburg Criminal Court: The innkeeper from Pinzgau would have suffocated his 30-year-old wife, who is separated from him, in May 2022 and then killed her with three stab. It happened “reflexively” after an argument, he claims.
The prosecutor charges murder, Thursday is the second and final day of the trial. For the prosecutor, however, one thing is certain: the act was planned – including the escape. The owner of the restaurant could not stand the separation from the woman and for this reason “he developed massive possessive behavior, insulted, monitored, pursued, injured and threatened to kill her”, he explains and, in addition to the conviction for murder, he also asks for hospitalization in an institution for mentally abnormal lawbreakers.
“In the Frenzy of Affection”
The defense attorney, on the other hand, sees “manslaughter in an emotional frenzy” – and blames the victim himself: his client committed the crime due to insults, insults and infidelities on the part of the woman and her greed for money.
However, the three-judge Senate does not allow such thoughts. The course of the crime does not indicate manslaughter, emphasizes the chair: There is no way to assume that an “ordinary citizen would act in the same way”, observes the judge. There is no “general understanding”.
Verdict: life imprisonment; not legally binding.