Escapes prison

Hotel bloodbath: construction worker escapes murder charge

A psychiatric report revealed that the 34-year-old Czech construction worker was not sane.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Last July, a construction worker allegedly killed two colleagues in a hotel in Vienna-Alsergrund. An expert opinion confirmed his lack of sanity. The Vienna public prosecutor's office has now applied for the man to be admitted to a forensic therapy center. He thus avoids being charged with double murder. 

A psychiatric report requested by the public prosecutor's office showed that the 34-year-old Czech construction worker was not sane at the time of the killing of two colleagues in a Viennese hotel in July. According to Nina Bussek, spokeswoman for the authority, an application has now been made to place the man in a forensic therapeutic center. 

Investigated in the Czech Republic
"The man concerned was traced immediately and arrested in the Czech Republic on the basis of a European arrest warrant just one day after his last offense and handed over to the Austrian authorities a few days later. He confessed to the facts, but stated that he had been attacked and feared for his life", Bussek stated.

The person concerned was immediately located and arrested in the Czech Republic on the basis of a European arrest warrant just one day after his last offense.

Behördensprecherin Nina Bussek

In addition to the interrogation of the man concerned, the search of the hotel room, targeted surveillance measures and expert reports from the forensic medicine department led to the determination of the course of events.

Man is classified as dangerous
However, a psychiatric report obtained by the public prosecutor's office revealed that the 34-year-old was under the influence of a lasting and serious mental disorder at the time of the crime and that this was the main reason for his actions. He had maltreated the two victims with numerous punches and kicks and pushed one of them out of a window on the fourth floor.

The case caused quite a stir back in July - the investigating authorities initially assumed it was an accident.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

The 34-year-old suspect is classified as dangerous.

(Bild: Bischofberger-Mahr Alexander)

The psychiatric expert classified the man as mentally incompetent, but at the same time dangerous. The expert warned that there was a high probability that the 34-year-old would commit a punishable act with serious consequences again in the foreseeable future under the influence of his mental disorder and in his report submitted at the end of September - APA reported - he advocated the man's indefinite placement in a forensic therapy center.

Diagnosis of schizophrenia that has never been treated
The 34-year-old suffers from severe paranoid schizophrenia, which is said to have appeared in his early youth and was never treated. His personality is also said to be characterized by acoustic perception disorders - at least in part, the man's strange behaviour was also noticed by those around him. However, he himself is not believed to be able to understand his illness and is said to have resolutely rejected psychotropic drugs - at least until his arrest.

After his arrest, the 34-year-old confessed to knocking a 44-year-old work colleague unconscious in his room on July 16 and then throwing him out of a window on the fourth floor. This case was initially assumed to be an accident or suicide, but when a second colleague of the Czech was found in the same hotel a week later with his skull bashed in, the prosecuting authorities changed their assessment.

Motive: had felt "threatened"
As the investigations revealed, the 34-year-old had obtained an access card for the 29-year-old's room on July 23 and then attacked him with extreme brutality. He had worked together with the two victims from Slovakia in the same company, which had accommodated the workers in a hotel not far from Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof.

After being transferred to Vienna, the suspect explained that he had felt "threatened" by the two men. They had "belonged to the mafia". The statements made by the man during his interrogation and his overall impression had already raised doubts among police investigators as to his sanity.