Three years in prison

Stabbing ex: “Wanted to have my peace”

The jury decides the fate of the accused in the jury courtroom of the Salzburg provincial court.

(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

"I'll stab him, I'll kill him": the public prosecutor quoted these words from a voice message sent by the accused before the violent act. Days later, she stabbed her ex in an argument. The verdict: intentional grievous bodily harm and three years in prison - not legally binding.

The accused, a Bosnian woman (43) born in Salzburg, and the victim had been a couple since 2010. But there was a serious crisis, with repeated separations and reconciliations. Until October 18, 2023, when the accused stabbed the man several times and allegedly tried to kill him," explained public prosecutor Mathias Haidinger at the jury trial in Salzburg on Tuesday. The prosecutor lists the injuries as a cut to the ear, a cut to the forearm and a life-threatening stab to the chest and lungs: "If the stab had been carried out just a little differently, the victim could be dead now." Haidinger also speaks of a "deep hatred" of the accused towards the victim and "clear evidence that the accused wanted to kill". 

One bloody deed, two versions
On that day, a friend was visiting the 43-year-old. They drank alcohol and consumed narcotics, and then the boyfriend at the time, the later victim, turned up. "He pulled out a knife and threatened to commit suicide," the previously innocent woman explained to the jury. This led to a scuffle. She got the knife in her hand: "And I must have somehow caught him on the stomach."

The accused also emphasized: "I didn't want to kill him. I just wanted him to get scared and leave me alone." And also says several times that she herself was afraid. However, Judge Gabriele Glatz makes it clear: "A stab like that requires force, not fumbling." 

Escaped from the apartment with injuries

The victim's version also sounds completely different: "We were still talking normally. Then I got a call from my mother." Then the woman suddenly attacked him and the table went flying. "I only saw her pull the knife out of my chest." He fled, bleeding, and was later found outside a pub by a friend. Rescue, surgery, the scars remain. And the knife? "I never had a knife with me," says the man under an obligation to tell the truth. "That was her knife."

Particularly incriminating for the accused: days before, she had sent clear voice messages to friends with insults and death threats against her ex. She is also said to have an aggressive side, the prosecutor mentioned. Defense attorney Christoph Rother, on the other hand, took the man to task: he had repeatedly hit and threatened her, according to the trial.

The jury voted unanimously against attempted murder and instead found intentional grievous bodily harm. The sentence: three years unconditional imprisonment. The verdict is not yet final