A 43-year-old man from Styria had to answer for attempted murder before the Graz Criminal Court on Tuesday. The man is said to have hit his wife on the head with a carpenter’s hammer in December 2021. The man’s lawyer spoke of an emotional act and pleaded for attempted manslaughter. The suspect confessed to the assault. A verdict is expected in the course of the afternoon.
Until the act in December in the Eastern Styrian municipality of Ilz, the suspect was impeccable. Previous relationships and a marriage failed, but he partly took care of the children alone, he told chairman Christoph Lichtenberg and the jury.
After a burnout and the corona pandemic, he withdrew more and more and apparently fell into a depression. He lost his job and had financial problems. The result: quarrel in his second marriage. He had suicidal thoughts since September.
In December, he tried several times to take his own life. His wife, a nurse, stopped him.
“You must be stabbed!”
The situation eventually escalated when the later victim contacted other men on dating platforms. “He took a knife, put it around her neck and said, ‘You need to be stabbed, motherfucker,'” the prosecutor said. When the woman’s eight-year-old son entered the room, the suspect hid the knife. As the mother returned the little one to the nursery, the suspect wrote several suicide notes.
Finally, after an argument in which the woman was injured, the man went to a bridge to jump off her. However, she did not follow him, so he returned to the common house. He attacked his wife with a hammer and hit her on the head.
“Happy coincidence” that woman is alive
“He could have killed her with that and he wanted to,” the public prosecutor was convinced. According to the coroner, it was “a lucky coincidence” that there were no life-threatening injuries as the hammer hit a thicker part of the skullcap. The skull’s weakest point, the temple, is said to be only six inches away.
“I still love my wife, but the relationship was poison,” the accused said in court. He admitted all the punches and kicks, but said his wife didn’t care that he wanted to kill himself.
“Suicidal Crisis”
Psychiatric expert Manfred Walzl said the suspect was in a “huge state of excitement in a suicidal crisis” at the time of the crime. His mental health was therefore significantly reduced, but still present. Given the history of multiple suicide attempts, the reviewer said, “Someone here has sought help that they have not received.”
Judgment expected Tuesday afternoon
In the afternoon the jury now has to decide whether, in addition to the dangerous threat and the physical injuries, there was also attempted murder or attempted manslaughter.
If you or a loved one is in a special psychological situation or has suicidal thoughts, please contact the pastoral care by telephone on telephone number 142. Other crisis telephones and emergency numbers can be found HERE
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
