Trial in Graz

9 stab wounds: Brutal attempted murder or self-defense?

The defendant pleaded self-defense.

(Bild: Eva Stockner, Krone KREATIV)

There are different truths at an attempted murder trial in Graz on Monday: while the accused (45) claims to have stabbed in self-defense in fear of death, the victim explains that she cannot even remember attacking the knifeman. 

The accused man from Graz is described as a rather reserved person with a calm personality. And yet the IT technician is said to have stabbed his opponent nine times in the body. "A very, very brutal act. Thankfully, the victim survived the attack after a three-hour emergency operation involving many specialists," said public prosecutor Katharina Tauschmann in her opening statement.

"He wanted to draw a line under it"
But what makes a shy, small, slight man commit attempted murder? "The background was infatuation, perhaps love, coupled with jealousy and the desire to be the shining hero for the woman," said the prosecutor. "Disinhibited by alcohol, he was finally the strong man. He wanted to draw a line under a relationship that in his eyes was a burden, even an imposition for his girlfriend."

The motive was infatuation, perhaps even love, coupled with jealousy and the desire to be the shining hero for the woman.

Staatsanwältin Katharina Tauschmann

Bild: Christian Jauschowetz

To explain: the later victim and his wife live separately. The Styrian woman cried to the accused and said that her husband would beat her and anyone who came too close to her. There had also been bans on entering the house and orders to leave. In the short term, a kind of relationship even developed between the two. "We went to the spa together with the children, but then things went too fast for her," says the accused.

"Didn't want the situation to escalate"
On the day of the crime, she was "child-free". And she really wanted to go away with him. The still-husband looked after the children (2 and 11). "But then the son called and said that his dad was going to flip out again," explains the 45-year-old. Together with a friend, they made their way to the apartment. Once there, the defendant waited in the car: "I didn't want the situation to escalate because the husband had already attacked me once." He was also afraid of him.

I approached him quickly because I wanted to get out of the apartment. Maybe that scared him. I'm already taller and heavier than him.

Das Opfer

But when the arguments in the apartment got louder and louder, he went in after all. "Why?" asked Judge Kornelia Philipp. "If you were so afraid of him." - "I thought I could settle the dispute." But the "mediation" ended with nine stab wounds to his opponent's stomach and back. "He came at me like a berserker. I thought he wanted to seriously injure me," says the accused. When he realized that he had stabbed the 39-year-old, he ran away in panic. He threw the murder weapon, his own pocket knife, into the Mur.

The victim, who admits to sometimes solving problems with his fist ("I don't go to the police for every slap"), tells the story differently. "My wife went home and just shouted around. I just wanted to leave because I wasn't interested in the argument." He took his cigarettes and his lighter, and then the defendant suddenly stood in the doorway.

"I certainly didn't hit him"
"It's possible that I gave him a 'shove'." - "He was in your way?" asks the presiding judge Florian. "Yes," shrugs the defendant. "Why would he have been afraid of you?" - "Maybe because I'm taller and heavier." He ruled out the possibility that he would have hit him. 

Defense lawyer Michael Dietrich emphasized that his client only acted as he did because he was massively outmatched by his attacker. "He was scared and saw no other option." - "I just wanted him to let go of me, to go away." The jury is due to reach a verdict on Thursday.