Defense attorney Matthias Holzmann reminded the jury that his client's livelihood was at stake. Fussenegger pointed out that the 28-year-old had a motive, namely money owed to the victim. Mixed DNA traces were found under the dead man's fingernails that matched the 28-year-old. Holzmann said there were many unanswered questions. The jury considered the accusation of murder to be proven and voted six to two in favor of a guilty verdict.

Victim strangled and dumped in a ditch
The 30-year-old woman was killed in the night of March 3, 2022 in the apartment of a 22-year-old co-defendant - who received a two-month conditional prison sentence on Wednesday - in Lustenau. The two men then packed the body into the second defendant's rented car and drove through Vorarlberg. The 28-year-old later dumped the woman in a ditch. A lot of alcohol and drugs were consumed on the night of the crime. A video recording at a petrol station led to the two men as possible perpetrators.

Men accused each other
Statements differed as to who had committed the crime. The 28-year-old said that the 22-year-old had snapped and choked the woman after she had provoked him. The 22-year-old, on the other hand, claimed that the 28-year-old had suddenly attacked and choked the woman. Both men claimed to have been too shocked to intervene.

The victim's loan was the motive for the murder
Public prosecutor Fussenegger said that a loan from the 30-year-old to the main defendant was the motive for the murder. The woman had lent the 28-year-old 15,000 euros, which had led to a dispute. The 28-year-old had always paid, but sometimes too late. The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace of the dead, but denied all other charges.

Had vomited because of the strangulation
Court psychiatrist Reinhard Haller stated that the men were sane at the time of the crime. According to forensic pathologist Walter Rabl, the woman suffocated after vomiting due to the strangulation. She was intoxicated at the time of death and had drugs in her blood. Coroner Petra Hatzer-Grubwieser stated that the DNA traces matched the 28-year-old and could not have been the result of normal contact.

Defense lawyer filed a full appeal
In the verdict on the first defendant, the judge cited the "cruel and cold-blooded commission of the crime" and the coincidence of two crimes as aggravating circumstances, while the diminished sanity and his confession to the charge of disturbing the peace of the dead were taken into account in a positive sense. The 28-year-old's defense lawyer filed a full appeal.

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