For killing his girlfriend in March last year, a 31-year-old Carinthian man was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder by the Graz Regional Criminal Court on Friday. During an argument, he knelt on her neck and choked her. The suspect allegedly abused the woman for two days.
The suspect and the victim met each other in 2019 during alcohol rehab at the clinic and started living together. Both were soon drinking again and according to prosecutor Stefan Engelbert, their shared apartment in Raaba near Graz was recently “in a desolate state”.
In the last three days before the crime, there were several violent clashes. The roofer hit the woman; she had numerous bruises. He once hit her with a customs stick.
On March 11, an argument escalated again and she allegedly threw a bottle at him. “I wanted her to stop,” the suspect said. He hit her and knelt on the woman. “I thought I was going to push her down by the chest, but it was her neck,” the man described it.
The victim had no alcohol in her blood and no remains of food were found: “Was she too badly injured to eat or drink anything?” asked Judge Catherine Farmer. The Carinthian could not answer that. The memories of the crime were quite vague, even though the event never left him.
“One or two bottles of vodka every evening.”
The defendant talked about his excessive alcohol consumption, he talked about ‘one or two bottles of vodka’ every evening when he worked, in the evening it was ‘a penny of wine and a tragic beer’. The argument also arose because ‘the problems affected him’. “Divorce was never a problem?” the judge asked. “No, we really loved each other,” the suspect replied.
Forensic doctor Isabella Klasnic used photographs to visualize the victim’s numerous injuries. “She had hematomas, abrasions and massive injuries from her head to the soles of her feet.” Psychiatric expert Manfred Walzl stated that the defendant was “moderately drunk.” Common sense was diminished, but still present. The 31-year-old was not diagnosed with a serious mental illness.
The jury found the suspect guilty of murder and intentional grievous bodily harm. The 31-year-old was sentenced to life imprisonment. The judgment is not final.
Source: Krone
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