A New Year’s Eve celebration ended tragically in 2022 with two deaths. As a result, four young people had to appear in court on Monday. Two of them were acquitted, which is not legally binding. The single trial against two brothers aged 18 and 20 has been canceled and the new date is January 10.
After a bullet bomb explosion that killed two people last New Year’s Eve in Ternitz (Neunkirchen district), four suspects appeared before the regional court in Wiener Neustadt on Monday on charges of murder by gross negligence and bodily harm by negligence. A 17-year-old and an 18-year-old were not legally acquitted; they had not been involved in the purchase or detonation of the bullet bomb. The single trial against two brothers aged 18 and 20 has been canceled and the new date is January 10.
A New Year’s Eve celebration “unfortunately came to a tragic end,” the prosecutor said. The suspects drove to the Czech Republic with one of the people who later died on December 29, 2022. Two bullet bombs purchased illegally there were placed in plastic tubes on a meadow in Ternitz around New Year’s Eve. One of the people who later died is said to have used a lighter to ignite the fire. There was no incident with the smaller ball bomb. “The second ignition was devastating and fatal,” the prosecutor said.
Two suspects were seriously injured
The larger bullet bomb exploded immediately. “None of us had a chance to turn around or run,” the 20-year-old first defendant said. An 18-year-old who was in the immediate area died on the spot. A man of the same age died in hospital from his injuries a few days after the incident. The two male suspects were taken to intensive care with serious injuries.
The suspects pleaded not guilty. The 18-year-old was there when the ball bombs were purchased. “I didn’t think it could end up this extreme,” he said. According to their statements, his brother and the two female suspects did not see the ball bomb until New Year’s Eve. “I wasn’t aware of the danger at the time,” but in retrospect that was “certainly” the case, the 20-year-old said.
The next trial date is January 10
According to the lawyer of the two male suspects, the events should be classified as ‘participation in self-threat’; he referred to a corresponding Supreme Court ruling. In this context, according to the judge, further investigation should now be carried out into the mental condition of one of the two victims on the basis of, among other things, secondary vocational education diplomas. The deceased’s former teacher will be questioned as a witness on January 10 from 1 p.m.
Source: Krone
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