A mentally ill Syrian (29) thought a colleague was trying to poison him with a hair loss drug – so he stabbed him with the knife. Jurors will now decide whether to commit him to a psychiatric hospital.
The man in the middle of the jury room at the Salzburg Regional Court suffers from a persistent delusional disorder, prosecutor Sebastian Wolfsteiner said during the trial on Monday. “Due to an acute psychosis, he is not mentally competent,” Wolfsteiner applied for placement in a psychiatric hospital.
“He felt like he was Jesus”
According to the public prosecutor, the victim, who had already been sentenced to prison for a crime in 2019, had tried to kill his colleague under the influence of his illness: “If he had been healthy, it would have been attempted murder.” The bloody incident took place on January 9 in August at a company in Lamprechtshausen: The Syrian had made the decision to commit the crime the day before and went to work with a switchblade.
He had the delusion that a colleague put hair powder on his pizza to make him lose his hair. That’s why he stabbed. The knife penetrated the victim’s thigh, resulting in serious injuries and surgery. Since the court expert recognized his mental illness, the 29-year-old has been treated: “He had the idea that he was a prophet and Jesus. He will continue to need medical attention,” emphasizes lawyer Leopold Hirsch.
Late Monday evening, the jury decided the admission, recognizing attempted murder as an incidental offense, not legally binding.
Source: Krone
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