In the spirit of the prosecution

Four guilty verdicts in machete murder trial

Four men have to stand trial.

(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

At the end of April 2023, four men allegedly executed a 32-year-old Algerian man. On Tuesday, the defendants had to stand in the dock of the Vienna Regional Court for the third and final time. The main defendant received a life sentence.

Four times guilty is the verdict in the machete murder trial, which concluded on Tuesday at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court. The prison sentences: two 17-year sentences, one 15-year sentence and one life sentence.

Four men from Algeria, aged 21, 22, 25 and 29, were found guilty as charged in the trial for the so-called machete murder and sentenced to long prison terms on Tuesday evening at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court. The 22-year-old main defendant received a life sentence. The 21-year-old received 15 years, the 25 and 29-year-old men 17 years each.

(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

No chance of survival
The majority of the jury - unanimously in the case of the 22-year-old - came to the conclusion that all four were directly involved in the deliberate murder of 32-year-old Djafaar H..

According to the first-instance verdict, they had ambushed him at the Jägerstraße subway station in Vienna-Brigittenau on 20 April 2023 and attacked him with a 70-centimetre-long machete and knives after he had been sprayed with a pepper spray and thus incapacitated. The victim had de facto no chance of survival due to the large number of injuries inflicted on him and the resulting loss of blood.

One final judgment
When assessing the sentence, the previous good conduct of the men was considered a mitigating factor, whereby the judge emphasized that due to their involvement in drug dealing, it could not be assumed that they had led a proper life. In the case of the youngest, the fact that he was not yet 21 years old at the time of the offense and therefore a young adult was also taken into account.

The aggravating factor was "the brutality and ruthlessness in the commission of the crime", as stated in the reasons for the verdict. In the case of the 22-year-old, who had first struck the victim twice on the head with the machete and, after he had fallen to the ground, repeatedly struck his legs, "nothing other than a life sentence could have been considered", said the judge.

Arms and legs almost chopped off
The 21-year-old accepted the sentence imposed on him, while the legal representatives of the three other convicts asked for time to reflect. Their sentences are therefore not legally binding. The public prosecutor agreed with all four sentences. This meant that the 15-year sentence for the 21-year-old was already legally binding.

Like their later victim, the Algerians belonged to a North African drug gang. They are likely to have fallen out with the victim over disputes about drugs and conflicts in their home country. The situation is likely to have escalated on the evening of the crime. The victim's arms and legs were almost chopped off with two machetes.