Suspicion of murder

Detention ordered for Spittal gunman?

The investigation has been ongoing since the death of the 21-year-old soldier on Tuesday: Was it a tragic accident or was there intent behind it?

(Bild: Elisa Aschbacher)

The lawyer of the guard soldier whose pistol fired the fatal shot in the Carinthian barracks arrived at the public prosecutor's office in Klagenfurt at midday on Friday. The magistrate authorized the pre-trial detention of the 21-year-old from Upper Carinthia. There was "urgent suspicion of murder".

"That was a tragic accident", said Kurt Jelinek, the Salzburg lawyer of the Carinthian guard soldier (21), from whose pistol a bullet hit a recruit in the chest on Tuesday - 21-year-old Mustafa P. succumbed to his serious injuries in Klagenfurt Hospital.

While the flag at the scene of the incident in the Türk barracks in Spittal an der Drau is flying at half-mast and the shock is profound, the investigation in the provincial capital is continuing at full speed.

Shooter found shooting victim "really nice"
"My client is incredibly sorry. He knew the man of the same age, they weren't close friends, but he found him, as he says, 'really nice'. They got on well," Jelinek told the "Krone" newspaper. There was no motive whatsoever to kill him.

There was no argument, there is no motive, it was a tragic accident.

Anwalt Kurt Jelinek, Verteidiger des Schützen

Bild: Markus Tschepp

There had been no quarrel. The "Krone", on the other hand, learned from people close to the two soldiers that there had indeed been friction. "It was a tragic accident," emphasized Jelinek. The 21-year-old from Upper Carinthia had previously been completely blameless, had learned a trade and was simply a young man.

"There is strong suspicion of a crime," Tina Frimmel-Hesse from the public prosecutor's office in Klagenfurt told the "Krone" on Thursday. On Friday afternoon, three days after the fatal shot, the Upper Carinthian was questioned. Afterwards, the pre-trial detention of the 21-year-old requested by the public prosecutor's office was approved by the magistrate. The pre-trial detention is valid for 14 days.

Court spokesman Christian Liebhauser-Karl also sees "urgent suspicion of murder" - based on the preliminary evidence: "The reason for the decision was the fact that the responsibility chosen by the accused is not comprehensible from a weapons technology and forensic medical point of view. In the opinion of the detention and legal protection judge of the Klagenfurt Regional Court, the pattern of injuries justifies the strong suspicion of murder."

There are no direct witnesses to the incident. Nevertheless, it is important to clarify how the shot was fired. Why did the shooter have the pistol in his hand rather than in his holster? Was he "playing" with it?

The course of the accident described by the 21-year-old so far does not match the ballistics analysis, which is why the accident version does not seem plausible to the public prosecutor's office.

It is hoped that the analysis of the cell phone data will provide clues, perhaps including a possible motive. "I have suggested that the deceased's cell phone should also be analyzed," says Jelinek.