Almost bled to death

48-year-old stabbed boyfriend with a knife

The Graz Regional Criminal Court

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

A 48-year-old woman appeared before a jury in Graz Provincial Criminal Court on Wednesday on charges of attempted murder. The Hungarian woman is accused of stabbing her boyfriend in the stomach with a knife during an argument in April, causing life-threatening injuries. 

It has not yet been possible to determine exactly what happened in the apartment in Graz on April 14. Apparently there was a relationship dispute between the accused and her partner. The argument escalated and the 48-year-old is said to have attacked the man with a kitchen knife.

She stabbed him in the stomach and seriously injured the 31-year-old. The stab wound perforated the small intestine in four places and the victim's general condition deteriorated rapidly. When the emergency operation was performed, there were already almost two liters of blood in the abdominal cavity, explained forensic pathologist Mario Darok.

Victim allegedly directed knife against his stomach

The accused denied from the outset that she wanted to kill the man. She admitted that she approached him with a pointed knife with a blade length of 13 centimeters. "I held the knife, he twisted my hand and pulled it jerkily towards him," was her account. He is said to have said "Yes, then stab me", the defendant described. "It cannot be ruled out that it was like that," said the expert witness about the woman's justification. In his opinion, it is certain that the man's life was in danger and that he could only be saved by emergency surgery.

Victim did not attend the trial
The victim did not appear and will now be heard next time. The court is also trying to get the only (ear) witness. The defendant's son-in-law is said to have been in the bathroom in the apartment and to have heard everything, at least acoustically. However, as he is no longer in Austria, it is questionable whether he will come. The trial will continue on November 28.