A 27-year-old Viennese threatened to attack top politicians. Yet the man walked around freely for a long time. Only because he did not appear at his trial in May did the handcuffs click. It was high time, as became clear after a report by forensic psychiatrist Siegfrid Schranz – who diagnosed the man as having a serious mental illness and being extremely dangerous. The negotiations finally took place on Thursday.
The 27-year-old, who threatened to kill Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) with hate mail, did not appear for his trial at the Vienna Regional Court in May. At the time, it was not entirely clear whether the suspect was still free after everything the Viennese public prosecutor had accused him of.
The threats increased
According to the indictment, he sent several emails from Venezuela to a police station in Vienna in February 2024. For example, it says that he “will take revenge and break the necks of the bastards. It will end in murder.” Back in Vienna, the threats against politicians and officials increased. The man, who had a criminal record, was eventually arrested not for being dangerous, but for skipping his trial.
On Thursday, he was brought before the regional court in Vienna. And things sound very different. The court psychiatrist Siegfried Schranz, who has now been appointed, confirms that the threatener has a serious and long-term mental illness: the man suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and a combined personality disorder: “The prognosis is extremely unfavorable, the danger is great.” The chance that he will implement the content scream at some point is great. “Because he is under so much pressure and he thinks he has no other choice.”
Defendant wants to involve the international court
Even during the trial it quickly becomes clear that things are not going well with the man. He has admitted the facts. He got off track due to divorce, burnout, depression and debts. “What they are doing here is a disgrace. ‘You should be ashamed’ are the first sentences he utters during the trial while he looks at the judge. Why he wrote the e-mails during his trip to Venezuela, he can only answer vaguely.
A minister named Maria and a supposed character certificate sent from Austria to Venezuela falsely claiming he beat women played a role in the anger that had built up inside him: “I was very angry.” taking the case to the international court and putting the Senate behind bars for twenty years. During the negotiations, the man’s mood changes several times. Sometimes he is loud and irritated, other times he says softly and quietly: “I’m sorry for bothering people.”
Admission to institution
After 90 minutes, the suspect, who was healthy at the time of the crime, was sentenced to twelve months in prison. Due to his dangerous nature, the Viennese is also placed in a forensic therapeutic center.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
