Fear of doppelganger

Almost killed: Man thought his father was a doppelganger

According to an expert opinion, the Viennese man suffers from a rare mental illness: he thinks that people are replaced by dangerous doppelgangers.

(Bild: rodjulian - stock.adobe.com)

Because a 49-year-old Viennese man thought his beloved father had been replaced by a doppelganger, he attacked him with a meat tenderizer and, according to the prosecution, also with a pair of scissors. This was not the first attack by the man, who suffers from a rare mental illness - doppelganger delusion. The offense is attempted murder. He sits before the jury as a victim. It is about his hospitalization, which was ultimately ordered. 

The executive had "determined the difference between the father and the double in the man's mind and looked for the right father", as he explained to the jury (presiding: Nicole Baczak). He had subsequently hoped for the arrest of the false father. He was only interested in a "minor injury", the 49-year-old emphasized. 

"I was very afraid that the doppelganger would do something to me," said the 49-year-old in the trial at the Vienna Regional Court. He had lived with his father in an apartment in Vienna. The mother had died in 2017.

Son: "Just wanted to stun him"
While the 79-year-old was watching a women's soccer match on TV, he suddenly felt a dull thud. His son had hit him on the head with a wooden chop stick. Because he was delusional and thought his father had been replaced. "By whom?" the judge wants to know. "By organized crime," comes the answer. "I just wanted to stun him so I could call the police." 

"I was covered in blood," recalls the victim, who was also stabbed with kitchen scissors. "We have a good relationship. As long as he takes his medication, everything is fine. Then we have fun." But as soon as the victim stopped taking them, he became dangerous.

Court psychiatrist Sigrun Roßmanith examined the 49-year-old Viennese.

(Bild: krone.tv)

The meat hammer attack was not the first attack. The man had often been conspicuous before and had to be admitted to the psychiatric ward in Hietzing several times. "In 2021, he hit his father on the head with a cup from behind," reports the public prosecutor. 

According to an expert opinion, the Viennese man suffers from a rare mental illness: he thinks that people are replaced by dangerous doppelgangers.

(Bild: rodjulian - stock.adobe.com)

Father: "Looking good"
Since his arrest last August, the man, who according to psychiatrist Sigrun Roßmanith suffers from the rare "Capgras syndrome" - or doppelganger delusion - has not seen his father. When he is called as a witness, there is a reunion. "Looking good. I'm bored at home alone," says the 79-year-old lovingly to the person who had attacked him several times. He knows about his son's serious illness - who keeps mistaking him for a doppelganger.

Son is committed
The verdict for the 49-year-old was handed down on Wednesday evening: he will be committed to a forensic therapy center. The placement in a detention center is not legally binding. According to the jury's verdict, the man, who is mentally incompetent and therefore not culpable due to a serious and lasting mental disorder - the lay judges deemed his crime to be intentional grievous bodily harm - asked for time to reflect.

He is my child, my only son. He cooks well. He makes the sauces particularly well.

Vater als Zeuge

"How do you manage that?" the judge asked the witness in conclusion, referring to his advanced age and the stressful life situation. "He's my child, my only son," said the 79-year-old. And after a short pause, he added: "He cooks well. He makes the sauces particularly well."

Wants to visit son as soon as possible
After the trial, the 79-year-old told the judge that he had "recovered in the last seven months (since his son's arrest, editor's note)" and "done what an 80-year-old does. A bit of traveling, watching TV, going for walks". He is "not angry" with his son. He will visit him as soon as possible. For legal reasons, he had previously been denied this because, as a witness in the main trial against the 49-year-old, he had no visiting rights.