Drama in Karlau

Styrian wanted to kill policeman: Suffocated in his cell

The Graz-Karlau prison

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

A Styrian man was sentenced to twelve years in prison in 2019 for trying to kill a police officer with a screwdriver. Now the 43-year-old is dead. He suffocated in his cell in Karlau prison from the fumes of a fire that he had apparently started himself.

It was his privately purchased protective vest that saved the life of a young police officer in December 2018. A 38-year-old Styrian at the time had stabbed the 28-year-old twice with a screwdriver. The police had been called because the known violent offender had gone on a rampage in a stairwell in Graz.

"Without the protective vest, the injuries would undoubtedly have been life-threatening", emphasized the forensic pathologist at the trial for attempted murder at the Graz Regional Criminal Court in summer 2019.

Inmate called for help via intercom
The man was sentenced to twelve years. Now he is dead. The 43-year-old suffocated from smoke fumes in his cell in the cell block of Karlau prison on Monday and also suffered severe burns. He probably started the fire himself - and not for the first time.

Massive fire incident
The Styrian had raised the alarm himself at around 4 a.m., apparently not wanting to die after all. "Unfortunately, resuscitation was unsuccessful until the detention room was finally opened," says the head of Graz-Karlau prison, Gerhard Derler. Due to the massive fire, the investigators from the State Office of Criminal Investigation (fire investigation division) have ruled out negligence - such as from a burning cigarette - as well as a technical defect. 

The official autopsy results were published on Tuesday. According to the police, the inmate died due to smoke inhalation and the massive exposure to heat. Further investigations also revealed that there was no suspicion of any external cause.

Second dead violent offender in just a few weeks
It was only at the beginning of July that a prisoner died in Karlau prison: The 25-year-old, who had been sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for the murder of his ex-girlfriend (22) at Leoben Provincial Court in December 2023, died of a drug or medication overdose.