Viennese (70) goes berserk

Dispute over Helene Fischer ended with a stabbing

The trial for the bloodbath during the Helene Fischer show should have taken place in the Vienna Regional Court - but the accused and the victim did not show up.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Starpix/A.Tuma/SPY, Schiel)

Because two pensioners from Vienna disagreed about Helene's TV appearance on 25 December 2023, the older one stabbed his neighbor in the stomach with a kitchen knife. There are now legal repercussions.

It was Christmas Day: on 25 December last year, Franz E. (70) invited his neighbor over to his apartment in Vienna-Liesing - for a cosy get-together with a few beers and glasses of red wine. And to watch the Helene Fischer show on TV together.

Helene Fischer's outfit divides Franz and Friedrich
"A heated discussion broke out between them", according to the Vienna public prosecutor's office in its indictment. The two pensioners disagreed about the appearance of the 39-year-old pop singer, who is usually seen in skimpy stage outfits. "The dispute escalated to such an extent that there was mutual fisticuffs and the victim pushed the defendant away."

The trial about the bloodbath during the Helene Fischer show was supposed to take place in Vienna Regional Court - but the defendant and the victim did not show up.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Starpix/A.Tuma/SPY, Schiel)

The victim's corpulence saved him from mortal danger
Because the 70-year-old widower was clearly physically inferior to his neighbor Friedrich M., he reached into a drawer, pulled out a kitchen knife and stabbed the 66-year-old in the stomach. Fortunately, the outcome was fairly mild, as the medical report shows: "Due to the victim's obesity, the stabbing did not result in any lasting or life-threatening injury to internal organs."

The disagreement about Helene Fischer's appearance must have agitated my client and the victim so much that it ended in violence and ultimately a bloodbath.

Verteidigerin Clara Abpurg vertritt Franz E.

Bild: Sophie Pratschner

But there will be a judicial aftermath - for which neither the accused nor the victim will appear in the Vienna Provincial Court. However, they gave their versions to the police. And there they disagreed just as much as they did about the appearance of the pretty entertainer. The older man claims to have grabbed the knife in self-defense; for the victim, the stabbing came out of nowhere. 

"No Helene Fischer show today"
When questioned at the police station, neither Franz E. nor Friedrich M. were able to explain how the Helene Fischer show of all things could have triggered such an argument between the two. Sooner or later, however, they will have to give their explanation to Judge Christian Gneist. He had to postpone the trial for intentional grievous bodily harm with the words "no Helene Fischer show today".