After a family dispute

Man beaten to death: Trio from Serbia arrested

The three suspects previously arrested in Serbia have been released in the case of an altercation resulting in death in Vösendorf.

(Bild: Rojsek-Wiedergut Uta)

At the end of May, two men aged 29 and 66 were brutally beaten to death, the 66-year-old subsequently died in hospital. The background to the crime: a dispute between two hostile families. After a lengthy manhunt, the three suspects were caught in Serbia. However, the trio have now been arrested again.

The charges against the three suspects are serious. The trio is said to have brutally attacked their two opponents during a family celebration and knocked them down with punches and kicks. A 66-year-old man subsequently died in hospital and his 29-year-old son suffered serious injuries. A witness informed the police, whereupon the trio fled in a vehicle.

Investigation into murder
The Serbian nationals Sasa K., Milovan D. and Sasa J. were wanted for a long time and a European arrest warrant was issued. However, after the trio was caught in Serbia, the suspects have now been released, as the trio's defense lawyer Nikolaus Rast confirmed on Friday. The charge: an altercation resulting in death. 

Causal connection "not provable"
From the point of view of defense lawyer Rast, the accused are exonerated by a medical report that certified that the 66-year-old victim had heart problems. According to the expert opinion, the man died of the "consequences of a cardiac arrest in cardiovascular failure". A causal connection between the use of force and the onset of death "cannot be proven", it says.

The incident in Vösendorf was preceded by a family dispute, Rast emphasized. "The other side" had started a fight and his clients had defended themselves, said the trio's lawyer. "No one here ever wanted to kill anyone." The reason for the escape: According to Rast, the accused left Austria after receiving death threats.

Meanwhile, the Serbian authorities have not yet officially commented on whether the prosecution of the suspects will be taken over. The public prosecutor's office in Wiener Neustadt is still waiting for an answer in this regard, said spokesman Erich Habitzl on Friday.