"Trained for evil"

Martin L.: From abused child to criminal

Martin L. in a parking lot in Linz. "I think it's a good idea to photograph myself behind the bars," he says, "because bars are somehow part of my life."

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

He had to endure terrible things in his childhood. Brutal beatings, sexual violence. Martin L. then began to commit crimes himself at an early age. And they became increasingly serious. The now 37-year-old has spent more than half of his life in prison. "I became a perpetrator," he says, "because I no longer wanted to be a victim."

The man now sitting in a restaurant garden in Upper Austria seems insecure - although he tries to be calm. A contrast that becomes more tangible with every movement he makes, with every word he speaks.

"Krone" Crime Magazine

This article appeared in "Krone" Verbrechen Magazin and is now available to digital subscribers .

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