At the beginning of April this year, an apartment in Vienna-Favoriten caught fire. A pensioner failed to save himself in time. Her husband must now take a seat in court – he carelessly started the fire with a cigarette. The 73-year-old and his lawyer see the cause of the fire somewhere else entirely.
“What do you think about the loss of your wife?” the judge asks the pensioner of the Vienna Regional Court. “Miserable” – the gray-haired man with a sunken face begins to cry. According to the prosecutor, he was responsible for his wife’s death through negligence. On April 2, 2023, there was a fire in the apartment they shared in Vienna-Favoriten – she died of smoke inhalation.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the cigarette caused the fire
An expert report based on witness statements investigated how the devastating fire came about. It revealed that the 73-year-old had not put out a cigarette and thrown it in the plastic bin in his ‘craft room’ – the fire spread quickly around 5am. The offense charged is ‘negligently causing a fire’, which carries a prison sentence of up to three years – after all, his wife is deceased.
“To accept responsibility here would be tantamount to lying to himself and lying to his deceased wife,” lawyer Otto Stadler said from the start, expecting his client not to plead guilty. Because cigarettes had nothing to do with the house fire. The replacement battery of the Viennese drill exploded: “Just before I go to sleep, I plug it into the socket so that it is charged,” says the hobbyist.
Nickel-cadmium battery exploded?
Research by his lawyer Stadler showed that it was probably a nickel-cadmium battery, which has no longer been allowed to be sold in the EU since 2017. And: After inquiring with the seller, it turned out that an incident had already occurred with a battery of the same brand – a carport had burned down after an explosion.
This was not checked in the fire report, which the defense said was “incorrect”. Furthermore: “My client and his wife were heavy smokers,” said Otto Stadler – the ashtray used even contained a device to extinguish the cigarettes. “The embers suffocated in less than 30 seconds,” the 73-year-old explains.
The judge wants to know why he hasn’t told the police yet: “I was way too excited. I sat on the street and didn’t know what to do. I didn’t even know if anything had happened to my wife. Apparently she couldn’t get out anymore,” the Viennese man remembers with a trembling voice.
Well over a million in insurance losses
The Viennese Municipal Insurance Company – which has joined the criminal proceedings as a private party – is also interested in finding someone responsible for the terrible fire. The entire house was only renovated shortly before the incident, which resulted in insurance damage of 1.156 million euros.
However, because there are many inconsistencies in the report, the police report and witness statements, the hearing must be postponed to clarify these. In any case, the pensioner insists: “I didn’t set anything on fire.”
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.