Tragedy in Kapfenberg, Styria: After a home birth, a 27-year-old killed her baby and confessed to the crime in hospital. Neighbors were deeply affected by the local inspection “Krone”.
An eerie calm reigned in the small residential area in the industrial town of Kapfenberg on Thursday afternoon when the neighborhood inspection took place. On Wednesday afternoon, dramatic scenes played out here: Witnesses saw a woman covered in blood and alerted the rescue service. In the apartment of the 27-year-old, the emergency services then made a terrible discovery: a baby for whom all help came too late.
An emergency doctor was only able to determine the death of the newborn. Because of the “clear evidence”, the police immediately assumed murder. The mother may have killed her son in the apartment right after birth. According to the police, she would have lived there alone.
‘First came the ambulance, then the police’
Fritz Bauer and his wife have been living in the apartment building for more than ten years, but they did not know the young woman: “People walk in and out here all the time, I don’t know most of them anymore,” said the Upper Styrian to “Krone” .
“We saw a woman being carried into the ambulance, then the police came. But we didn’t realize that something so tragic had happened,” the couple said.
Mother was overwhelmed by the situation
Since the woman was taken to hospital due to massive blood loss, she could not be questioned until Thursday afternoon. The urgent suspicion was confirmed, the Austrian with a migration background confessed to the crime. “She stated that she was overwhelmed by the situation,” said police spokesman Fritz Grundnig. The woman can now be charged with killing a child at birth. The penalty is up to five years in prison.
Grazerin killed four children
Similar cases have also occurred in the past. Particularly tragic: Gertraud A. from Graz gave birth to four healthy babies between 2000 and 2005 and killed them after birth. She deposited two bodies in a freezer, two in concrete buckets. Her partner, who said, “If you have a child, you can sneak out,” was clearly involved in the crime.” The court sentenced her to life imprisonment. Her partner, who always claimed not to have noticed anything, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
The case of a then 29-year-old woman from Germany shows how desperate young mothers can be. Shortly before the end of 2019, she gave birth to a girl alone in her apartment. Then she wanted to give the child to the hatch, but did not dare. She left it in a gym bag in the underground car park, passersby found the hypothermic baby. There was a distraction in court.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
