Two assassination attempts

“Ms. H. is a master of manipulation”

Bernadette H. in Korneuburg Regional Court (Lower Austria).

(Bild: Antal Imre/Imre Antal, Krone KREATIV)

Last day of the trial in the explosive poisoning case from Lower Austria. Bernadette H. is said to have tried to kill her partner twice - the 42-year-old is blind after being poisoned. The cinematic crime story is now coming to an end in court with a non-appealable conviction.

Bernadette H. is sitting in Korneuburg Regional Court for the fifth day - and it is also to be the last in the trial for two counts of attempted murder. She first attempted to poison her then partner in 2022, a few months later she staged his suicide attempt - then Andreas F. also spent eight weeks in custody because of the 32-year-old. 

Bristantes expert opinion of the court psychiatrist
On the last day of the trial, court psychiatrist Peter Hofmann draws his final conclusion: "You have a body of work that has a dimension that can only be explained by personality difficulties and a mastery of lying very authentically," he addresses the jury.

Then the child also has to see her mother being stabbed to death - her own mother. And then she has to call the police.

Gerichtpsychiater Peter Hofmann über die Instrumentalisierung der 10-jährigen Tochter

He talks in particular about the incident on the night of May 16/17, 2023, when Bernadette H. faked a knife attack on herself and then placed her blood and hair in the house of Andreas F. She had her daughter, who was only 10 years old at the time, make the emergency call. The 32-year-old confessed to this set of charges. "You have to imagine, as a person, coming up with the idea of faking something like this in the first place. She incites her daughter to make a false statement. Then the child also has to see her mother being stabbed to death - her own mother. And then she has to call the police," summarizes Hofmann.

Court psychiatrist Peter Hofmann attests to the defendant's dangerousness.

(Bild: Groh)

On the basis of the psychiatric report, the public prosecutor's office applies for her to be placed in custody on the grounds of dangerousness. "What do you need to work on?" asks the presiding judge Bernadette H. The answer: "The constant lying." - "I've told you several times what you did to your daughter. But as a mother, that wasn't the first thing you thought of," says Ms. Rat, slightly shocked. 

"Being heartlessly uninvolved"
A classic feature of narcissistic and histrionic personality disorder, which was diagnosed by psychiatrist Peter Hofmann, is a "heartless, uninvolved being", especially towards the now blind Andreas F. The client of lawyer Sascha Flatz suffers from a deeply rooted personality problem with manipulative and instrumentalizing characteristics - especially "inappropriate sexually seductive and provocative behaviour".

Andreas F. (42) is almost completely blind after the methanol poisoning.

(Bild: Sophie Pratschner)

She describes herself as an "overly attentive, loving partner". She is known to have a helper syndrome. Some would even call her Mother Theresa. According to Hofmann, she had a "completely uncritical approach" to a personality disorder. The prosecutor also summarizes: "Ms H. is a master of manipulation."

Who she manipulated the most: Andreas F., who re-entered the courtroom for the closing arguments. "Don't fall for the defendant. Don't let yourselves be manipulated too," the prosecutor appealed to the jury. And victim representative Arthur Machac also demands: "Say yes to a conviction."

After four hours of deliberation, the lay judges do so unanimously. They found Bernadette H. guilty as charged - not legally binding.