Forgery thriller

89-year-old woman accused: “Found a will”

The testamentary thriller revolves around this lakeside estate near Vienna.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/zVg, Stock Adobe)

The public prosecutor's office investigated a sprightly Viennese woman for a year and a half, and the proceedings lasted a total of three years. She was accused of meticulously forging her half-brother's will. The pensioner was charged and threatened with imprisonment. The trial brought to light that the document had indeed been forged. But not by her. 

With her curls freshly done and wearing her beautiful black shoes, an 89-year-old Viennese woman made her way to the provincial criminal court. It is the finale of a very stressful case for her that has dragged on for three years. The pensioner, who has already had to cope with strokes of fate such as the tragic loss of her son, is facing charges and a sentence of up to three years in prison. 

Envelope was in the pocket of the deceased
According to the Vienna public prosecutor's office, she allegedly forged the will of her last relative, namely her half-brother. The man died at the end of July 2021, and while cleaning out his house in the presence of two women, Ms. R. found an envelope with the words "Will" in her brother's pocket and took it with her to the notary. The only difference to the old will, in which she would have received valuable works of art and an apartment: the house by the lake, in which she would have had a lifelong right of residence according to the original will, would also have become her property.

"According to the original will, my client could not have bequeathed or sold the house. But both are completely irrelevant to her, as she has neither family nor debts," explained her defense lawyer Bettina Caspar-Bures. And the defendant also affirms: "I didn't forge it. I found it and thought it was my brother's handwriting."

The client of lawyer Bettina Caspar-Bures was acquitted.

(Bild: Anja Richter)

According to the public prosecutor, the forgery was carried out with a great deal of criminal energy and meticulous planning. "Do you believe that at an advanced age - my client was 86 at the time - such meticulous forgery is possible?" Caspar-Bures argued. 

The court followed her reasoning and delivered a legally binding acquittal for the relieved 89-year-old! The man who inherits the house according to the first will wants the civil court to declare Mrs. R. "unworthy of inheritance" and for him to inherit everything - including the valuables. The deceased's acquaintance, who did electrical work for him, argued that the will had been forged.

Will the investigation continue now?
But this has now been refuted. Who actually forged the document, however, remains to be seen. It is quite possible that the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office will reopen the exciting case. Ms. R. no longer wants to deal with it. She says: "I'm glad that the accusations against me are finally off the table."