Three dead in apartment

Three dead in apartment: owner probably set fire

Three men died in this apartment building.

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

New details surrounding the mysterious case of three dead people with gunshot wounds in Bad Vöslau, Lower Austria: the owner of the apartment - one of the dead - is likely to have started the fire in the apartment himself. The theory that there could have been a fourth person in the apartment is therefore becoming increasingly unlikely.

According to Stefan Pfandler, head of the Lower Austrian State Criminal Police Office (LKA), the body of the 77-year-old owner of the apartment had scorch marks on his hair and eyebrows, among other things. This was not the case with the other two men, aged 63 and 67.

Three men died in this apartment building.

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

"No valid explanation yet"
Petrol had been spilled in four places and set alight in three. One canister was seized, said Pfandler. On Thursday, he described the investigation into the cause of the fire as complete, but the motive for the crime remains unclear for the time being. There is "still no valid explanation", said the head of the LKA.

There are also more and more reasons why a fourth person could have been present in the apartment at the time of the crime. According to Pfandler, interviews with firefighters who had entered via the balcony revealed that they had had to cut a fly screen to do so. This would probably not have been intact if someone had escaped this way.

A handgun and a long gun were seized in the apartment. Both had been legally owned by the 77-year-old.

Neighbors raised the alarm
On Saturday, neighbors had raised the alarm because they had noticed the smell of burning in the apartment building. Shortly afterwards, the fire department recovered three male bodies from the apartment on fire - all three had gunshot wounds.