Son stabbed father to death

Son stabbed father to death: murder trial in Ried today

Defense lawyer Andreas Mauhart with the 22-year-old defendant

(Bild: Scharinger Daniel/Pressefoto Scharinger © Daniel Scharinger, Krone KREATIV)

Because he had taken psychotropic drugs, a now 22-year-old did not want to go to his apprenticeship. During an argument, the father fired shots, whereupon his son fatally wounded him with a knife. The trial will now clarify whether it was murder, assault or actually self-defense. 

It is an incredibly tragic family story, which will be brought to trial on Thursday at Ried Regional Court. The father, a long-distance lorry driver who retired early due to his alcohol addiction, the son, who slipped into drug addiction as a teenager, and the highly educated mother, supportive but never strong enough to stand up to the father.

Escalation in mutual intoxication
The decades-long conflict escalated on January 19. The father had picked up the drugged-up son from Linz, even though he was heavily intoxicated, as the autopsy later established, and the argument had already started in the car. "He was completely drunk, he swore at me the whole way, I didn't say anything," said the defendant. Around two in the morning, the son was supposed to drive to his apprenticeship as a baker, but he refused. The argument then escalated further.

Threatened with great-uncle
The father said that he would get Ossi, a manly great-uncle with several criminal convictions, to finally "straighten out his son's calves", whereupon the argument continued and the mother joined in. "I pushed him away and then slapped him twice in the kitchen because he was shouting so much and spitting at me," the 22-year-old told the court. 

Suddenly there was the shot
However, as is apparently usual, this had the opposite effect. "I then went out of the kitchen into the living room, sat down in my seat and put music on the TV, and suddenly there was a gunshot, it was extremely loud. I knew it was aimed at me, because he kept saying he was going to kill me, my mom and himself," the gruesome account continues. "I then took the knife from the table and went to the wall next to the door, where the next shot was already fired - and the bullet hit exactly where my head had been before. I was incredibly scared for my life!"

Son took advantage of the jam
Then the father wanted to reload and came face to face with his son. Because of the jam, the son had a moment: "I just wanted him to let go of the gun. I wanted to snatch it away from him, but he didn't let go. Then I stabbed him until he dropped it. You can't think in a situation like that, I didn't feel anything except fear for my life! I just wanted to live and for him to put the gun down."

He had only wanted to disarm
Seven of the nine stabs were in the shoulder of the gun hand, emphasized defence lawyer Andreas Mauhart, who is representing the young man with the childishly round face and youthful body "pro bono", i.e. free of charge. He is convinced: "The accused did not experience the love he needed from childhood. If he had been my son, he might not be sitting in the dock today, but instead of my colleague as his defense lawyer!"

Always fighting for love from his father
"My father wasn't fundamentally a bad person, he just didn't know what was happening. When he was drunk, he was completely unpredictable, often lashed out at me and always insulted me and my mother. Nevertheless, I also had my father's date of birth tattooed on me because I loved him! He knew that too, but never really reacted to it," the son reports matter-of-factly. "Since he retired early, he was always at home - I was twelve or 13 years old then. From then on, the arguments really escalated and he was almost always drunk. I still loved him very much."

Course of events recreated with highlighter pen
The exact course of events was re-enacted in court: An expert witness mimed the father, the defendant used a highlighter to show how he had held his father's gun with his left hand and stabbed him with his right hand. "The knife penetrated his T-shirt very easily. In that situation, it seemed to me that I hardly had to use any force, but I just don't remember exactly," said the 22-year-old. According to the young defendant, it was a chaotic situation, a fight for survival, which is why he could not exactly explain the stabs that went into his father's back from behind. 

Why didn't he flee?
Why he wouldn't have simply left the house and fled to safety? "I saw him continue to reload the gun. If he had brought the bullet in and I had run to the door, I would have been right in his line of fire. You can't think rationally in a situation like that, it just wasn't possible," the defendant emphasized several times.

The judge also showed the two weapons used in the courtroom: first the modern large-caliber hunting rifle, then the small knife with which the son stabbed him. 

Numerous previous convictions
The son's five previous convictions were also discussed in court: he had already robbed petrol stations with an axe for drug money as a teenager. He had served his first sentence for making a dangerous threat against his best friend - at the age of 14. 

Witness reports a traumatic night
"It was the middle of the night when the doorbell rang and there was a knock. I heard 'Help me, help me, he stabbed me'. He was leaning against the wall next to me and I saw something slightly red on his shoulder. I immediately called the ambulance, I didn't even know it was my neighbor, we hadn't actually had any contact before," said the family's neighbor. Shortly afterwards, the mother and son also came to the fence. She asked several times how the father was doing. The son, on the other hand, was completely beside himself, shouting "You shot me" several times and shouting wildly. 

"I will never open the door at night again"
"The father said he had fired a warning shot. It was only then that I noticed the blood running down his back, you could even see it on his black T-shirt," the older man continued. "'You can have him now, your Burli', the seriously injured father said, then the paramedics and the police arrived, it was all very fast. I'll tell you one thing, I'll never open the door at three or four in the morning again in my life!" said the witness, who felt threatened by his son's aggressive behavior. The entrance area of the witness's house was covered in blood. 

Stepdaughter also torn from sleep
"I woke up around half past two when I heard my stepfather talking. At first I thought it was about my mother, who had just come out of hospital. But there were strange voices and I got up. At first I didn't know who was talking to my stepfather until I recognized the neighbor - and immediately saw the blood running down the back of his trousers. I immediately called the ambulance and the emergency doctor," said the neighbor's stepdaughter, who also lived in the house next door.

A good night's sleep turned into a nightmare
"Because the defendant was still shouting, my stepfather tried to calm him down and asked if enough had already happened. Then the defendant, who was standing under a tree in his garden, said, 'woah, are you going to attack me now? I have two small children, aged six and eight, who slept in my room. It was a lot for us, also because my mother had just come out of hospital," the witness continued. That was the first night they slept again after it was unclear whether their mother would survive in hospital. "I'm just so glad that my children didn't wake up - it looked like a battlefield in the corridor!"

Mother requested exclusion of the public
The physically severely impaired mother of the accused applied for her testimony to be excluded from public view, partly because she suffers from severe social phobia and therefore could not testify freely. After some back and forth, the exclusion was finally granted. Her questioning ultimately lasted a good two hours. The last item on the agenda was a digital inspection of the crime scene using a three-dimensional model created by the police.

 If convicted, the 22-year-old faces life imprisonment. It is still unclear whether a verdict will be reached on Thursday.