Homeless man killed

18-year-old charged with double murder

The double murder suspect is now 18 years old.

(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

In the case of the brutal murders of two homeless people in Vienna, the 18-year-old suspect is now being charged with double murder. However, as the boy was a minor at the time of the crime, he will be tried as a juvenile. 

It was a dramatic series of murders that shook Vienna in the summer of 2023 and terrified those with whom life had often not been kind to begin with. Charges are now being brought in the case of the homeless murders against the 18-year-old who - 16 years old at the time - turned himself in months after the murders. He is accused of killing two homeless men with a knife in July and August 2023. The boy is also alleged to have tried to kill a homeless woman.

16-year-old turned himself in at the time
The victims were attacked in their sleep and killed with numerous stab wounds. In December 2023 - after the police had launched an extensive investigation and manhunt - the then 16-year-old turned himself in to the authorities. He confessed to all the charges, citing anger, restlessness and sadness as the motive for the crime.

The footage from a surveillance camera showed the suspect in the vicinity of a crime scene.

(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

In addition to the interrogation of the accused, the seizure of the murder weapon, the analysis of the DNA traces found on it and expert reports from the field of forensic medicine led to the filing of the indictment with the Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters as the juvenile jury court, as the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Tuesday.  

Referral requested
As the accused was a juvenile at the time of the crime, the penalty for the crime of murder in this case is a prison sentence of one to 15 years. In addition, the Vienna public prosecutor's office has applied for the defendant to be placed in a forensic therapeutic center.

According to an expert opinion, the boy was sane at the time of the crime, but there is a high probability that he will commit criminal acts with serious consequences again in the foreseeable future, according to the judicial authorities.

Mother beaten until hospitalized
Another act of violence attributed to the teenager, which took place after the homicides, is already pending in court. On September 18, 2023, the 17-year-old is said to have inflicted several rib fractures, a skull contusion, hematomas and abrasions all over his mother's body by punching her in the face and then kicking the head and body of the woman who had fallen to the ground. It remains to be seen whether this crime will be included in the oath hearing or whether it will be heard separately.