Murder trial in Ried

Everyone is curious whether the defendant is wearing a dress

The accused appeared in court in Ried im Innkreis as a woman

(Bild: Markus Schütz, Krone KREATIV)

The court spectators have a special eye on the accused at the trial of a man from the Innviertel region who was stabbed to death. The 24-year-old feels like a woman and wants to be treated and addressed as such. The judge, public prosecutor and lawyer complied with this wish.

It was eagerly awaited how the judge would address the accused at the trial in the jury courtroom in Ried, who would prefer to be a woman and be called "Vanessa". According to the prosecution, the 24-year-old Slovakian is clearly biologically a man and is being charged as such - with murder.

The accused appeared in court in Ried im Innkreis as a woman

(Bild: Markus Schütz, Krone KREATIV)

The accused, who everyone calls "Vanessa" if they wish, appeared at the trial wearing dark clothing, a hoodie and black trousers - "Vanessa" is wearing light make-up and has her hair tied back in a ponytail. Her hands were noticeably shaking at the start of the trial.

Commitment also requested
On October 5, 2023, the defendant allegedly killed an 82-year-old protégé in Geretsberg with several stab wounds. He then called the stepdaughter and had himself arrested. The motive given by the trans carer was that he had been teased and groped by the senior citizen. Public prosecutor Petra Stranzinger sees this as a protective allegation, "the victim knew nothing about the transsexuality" and demanded a conviction and committal to a forensic institution, as "Vanessa" falls into the second highest risk group according to the expert opinion and the probability of recidivism is 76 percent within seven years.

Drunkenness and psychotropic drugs
According to expert Adelheid Kastner, the accused is sane but dangerous due to a "combined personality disorder". However, this disorder and the 3.4 per mille of alcohol and psychotropic drugs ("benzos") in his blood during the crime were not grounds for incapacity. Josef Wimmer, the lawyer, disagreed, arguing that the medical history (borderline syndrome) and the alcohol abuse in particular were grounds for inculpability. However, there are no documents about the borderline syndrome and alleged hospital stays.

"She was looking for an outlet"
During the interrogation, "Vanessa" pleaded guilty, reporting a difficult childhood - her parents divorced - a toxic marriage and therefore the onset of alcohol addiction and severe mental health problems. According to the lawyer, the later victim, who always called "Vanessa" "Grandpa", probably found out from his siblings that "Vanessa" was not a woman and teased and groped him/her on the day of the crime, but before that there had been an argument about refusing chocolate and beer and an uncharged razor.

Then there was an argument on the phone with the boyfriend in Slovakia, and "Vanessa" had not taken her medication on the day of the crime. "She was looking for an outlet, and that was the unfortunate Franz Sch.", says the public prosecutor. "Vanessa" could not remember the stabs - there were more than ten with at least two knives. "But of everything else that day?" the judge asked. "Because I had been drinking alcohol at the time," said the defendant, who incidentally referred to "Grandpa" as "the old man" during the trial.

The jury trial is scheduled to last all day. The sentence for the murder charge ranges up to 20 years or even life imprisonment. The presumption of innocence applies until the final verdict.