Autopsy completed

When the double murderer died is being kept secret

How long has Roland Drexler been dead? Even the autopsy results on Monday could not answer this question.

(Bild: Werner Kerschbaummayr)

The autopsy of the double murderer of Altenfelden was carried out on Monday afternoon. But it does not answer the question that is on everyone's mind: When did Roland Drexler (56) really die? 

The great expectations were disappointed. On Monday, the police and judiciary were waiting for the results of the autopsy on Roland Drexler's body. But the forensic experts in Salzburg were unable or unwilling to determine when the 56-year-old, who had shot two hunters in Altenfelden and Arnreit a week earlier, had died. "He died from a shotgun blast to the head, and the possibility of any outside involvement has been ruled out. However, nothing has been announced about the time of death," said Ulrike Breiteneder, spokeswoman for the Linz public prosecutor's office, in response to an inquiry from "Krone".

This means that the most frequently asked question about the discovery of the body of the amok hunter remains unanswered. Did he execute himself in his hunting ground on Monday, shortly after the crime, or had he actually been hiding somewhere for at least four days? And only then parked his car in the woods near Arnreit and ended the hunt nearby?

"Differentiation should already be possible"
"In this weather, especially because of the cold, it is difficult to determine the exact time of death. But it should be possible to differentiate whether the body has been lying there for six or just one or two days," says the retired, long-standing Linz forensic pathologist Robert Lamprecht (68).

Drexler was found dead in a wooded area. It is not clear when he died there.

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

This ambiguous result leaves the door wide open for speculation. The police claim to have driven along the path where a farmer found the car on Friday shortly after the crime. If the suicide happened directly after the crime, someone else must have put the Caddy there. And if Drexler really only brought the car there on Friday night and then shot himself, the question remains: "Where was he the whole time?" Or: Was the silver Caddy simply overlooked?

Two psychologists looked after pupils
School started again on Monday after the fall break. And the days off were characterized by fear and uncertainty in the region around Altenfelden; the phantom Roland Drexler prevented many parents from letting their children go outside without a care in the world. The Upper Austrian Education Directorate sent two psychologists to Altenfelden elementary school, where they assisted the teachers in coming to terms with the past week and answering the children's questions and fears. The psychologists are also available to other schools if they request them.