Ukrainian arrested

Stabbing in Tyrolean monastery garden – acquittal

The defendant in court in Innsbruck.(Bild: Markus Stegmayr)

According to the Innsbruck public prosecutor's office, a barbecue in the garden of a monastery in Imst, Tyrol, ended with two stab wounds to the chest. The jury did not see it that way and acquitted the alleged perpetrator of attempted murder - not legally binding.

Both Ukrainians openly admitted to the Innsbruck regional court that they had got into a heated argument at the refugee accommodation in the former Capuchin monastery in Imst on the evening of September 16, 2023. However, the versions of what really happened differed greatly. The defendant (38) only reported insults, which ultimately led to violence.

Ukrainian (38) allowed to go home after murder trial
He denies having a "knife-like tool" - which has not yet been found. The fact is that his opponent suffered two bleeding wounds on his chest. However, after several hours of deliberation, the jury decided that the 38-year-old did not attempt to murder his opponent. The acquittal is not legally binding.

The verdict was clear: All eight jurors voted against the attempted murder charge; the majority also voted against the possible charges of grievous bodily harm or grossly negligent bodily harm. So the Ukrainian is allowed to go home. 

A barbecue party is said to have escalated in this former Capuchin monastery in Imst.(Bild: Haeferl)

Defendant: Stabs come from "another person" 
What happened at the alcohol-soaked party that evening in the garden of a former monastery and now refugee accommodation ultimately remained unclear. The defendant, who pleaded "not guilty" from the outset, had argued several times during the two days of the trial that the two life-threatening stab wounds to the chest of his alleged victim had been inflicted by a "knife-like object" from another person.

Prosecutor found version "not very plausible"
 The prosecutor found these statements "not very plausible" in her closing statement. "There is no reason to believe it", she said, especially as the evidence was "clear". "That the knife attack happened first and only then the exchange of blows is a very adventurous assumption," said the public prosecutor.

The man's defense lawyer naturally took a different view, pleading for the "principle of doubt" to be applied here. "There are reasonable grounds for doubt as to why my client should be acquitted," she explained to the eight jurors before their deliberations, who ultimately followed her reasoning.