Outside a women's shelter

Man (44) wanted to kidnap his wife with his son

Father (front) and son before the trial at the Linz Regional Court.

(Bild: Andrea Kloimstein, Krone KREATIV)

Wild scenes are said to have taken place in Linz on September 12, 2024: Two men allegedly grabbed a woman and dragged her into a car. However, the alleged kidnappers were not strangers, but the victim's husband (44) and son (19). Both were sentenced to prison in Linz.

The prosecutor at the Linz Regional Court spoke of a sandbox love affair that was later characterized by alcohol abuse and violence on the part of the man. The defense lawyer spoke of an on-off relationship that had suffered massively from the woman's mental illness. The mother of nine children is said to have moved out several times in recent years, but always returned to her family.

Seeking protection in a women's shelter
Even before the alleged abduction on September 12, the mother is said to have been staying at the women's shelter in Linz for several weeks, having met her 19-year-old son there by chance the day before. He is said to have asked the mother to return to her parents' home to look after the three underage children again.

Mother intercepted
"She wanted a divorce", says the public prosecutor - she always took a look at the surveillance cameras before leaving the women's shelter. This was also the case that day, but she met her son again outside the safe house. Her husband is said to have hidden in a nearby bush.

Grabbed by the upper arm
"I said to my mother that she should come home," the 19-year-old told the judge. After the conversation, the husband ran up to the woman and grabbed her by the upper arm - so hard that she suffered a bruise. He then allegedly grabbed her by the head and covered her mouth. He and his son then maneuvered the woman into the back seat of the car and took her to the apartment.

By then she was in a good mood again, smoking. She could have got out at at least ten traffic lights.

Der Ehemann vor Gericht

Police talked to her mother on her cell phone
"She was in a good mood again, smoking. She could have got off at at least ten traffic lights," the father told the judge and continued: "Whenever she didn't take her tablets, she refused me and the children." The journey to Croatia was also "normal" again, although even the police were in contact with the mother on her cell phone - father and son say in unison.

Stopped at a petrol station
"The man kissed the woman in the getaway car and licked her lips," says the prosecutor. Shortly before the Slovenian border, the car was tracked down by cell phone and stopped - the handcuffs clicked for the father-son duo. It was no longer the 19-year-old in the car, but his younger brother. The older brother is said to have been looking after the younger siblings.

Up to ten years in prison
On Friday, the two defendants had to answer for deprivation of liberty and assault at the Linz Regional Court - the penalty range is up to ten years in prison. Both were sentenced to partial prison terms: the father to 21 months (seven unconditional), the son to seven months (two unconditional), already legally binding.