Attack with a bottle

Shared flat crime in Vienna: Two confessions about a dead man

On August 10, there was a serious argument between friends in this house. A 24-year-old died after an attack with an empty vodka bottle.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Zwefo, zVg)

Dramatic turn of events after drama in a shared flat in Vienna-Favoriten: It was not the husband of the young family present who is said to have fatally hit a 24-year-old man in the head with a vodka bottle in August, but his wife of the same age. The previous suspect was released from custody, the "new" suspect is at large. 

No stone is left unturned in this murder mystery. At first, the police spoke of a suspicious death in the case of the 24-year-old who was found lifeless in his shared room in Vienna-Favoriten on August 10. It was soon clear that the young Slovakian had died after being hit on the head with a glass bottle - a fractured skull on the left parietal bone.

Couple friends were guests with baby
Shortly after the crime, his partner and roommate came into the investigators' sights. It began as a fun evening with vodka, dance music and schnitzel. But as they became increasingly drunk, a loud argument broke out between the couple in the kitchen, confirmed the couple, who were friends and guests at the couple's home on the evening of the crime. They had their six-month-old baby with them. "That's why our daughter started crying," the woman stated as a witness and said that they left around 9:30 pm.

I am pleased that I was able to secure my client's release due to considerable doubts about his guilt.

Rechtsanwalt Sascha Flatz verteidigt den Ehemann.

Bild: zVg

A little later, the tide turned and her husband became the accused. On August 15, he came to the police station with his aunt to make a confession. "In the course of an argument, there was a scuffle", the young father now states. Because the victim had held him from the front and prevented him from leaving, he grabbed the empty vodka bottle on the floor, which they had previously drunk together, and hit him on the head. The Slovakian then fled back into the stairwell. However, he was alive when his wife, the baby and he left the house.

New confession leads to release from custody
The 24-year-old, defended by lawyer Sascha Flatz, was arrested the same evening on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent resulting in death and was remanded in custody - from which he was released last week!

The reason for this: In her new interrogation, his wife and mother of their child stated that she had struck him with a bottle, causing his death.

Did the woman act in self-defense?
On August 17, she came to the police station to change her original witness statement. "I knowingly didn't tell the truth," she says on the record and adds: "I'm here because I actually hit J. in the head with the vodka bottle." - Her partner had lied to protect her. Especially as their daughter is only six months old. According to the new version, the later victim was drunk and got into an argument with her husband. The baby is said to have become restless, then J. also attacked her. Which is why she grabbed a bottle and hit him.

Now the 24-year-old is also the accused. However, the young mother was not taken into custody.