Heirlooms sold

Vienna: Martial artist empties his hostess’s safe

The martial artist from Afghanistan emptied his hostess's safe without further ado. (symbolic image)

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/BUDDHA - stock.adobe.com)

A doctor from a good family left her apartment during her vacation to an Afghan she knew from a boxing course. When the lawyer returned, the heirlooms, which also meant a lot to her emotionally, had been sold off. The 31-year-old was put on trial in Landl.

"We were amicably connected. Out of good nature and compassion, I let him stay overnight in my apartment when I flew away on vacation," says the elegant lawyer as a witness in the Vienna Landl about the man who is now sitting to her right as a defendant. The disappointment is written all over her face. When the doctor returned from her autumn vacation to her home in a posh Viennese district, she found the key to her safe under the bed while cleaning. "It's normally in a gray box with a wooden lid in my bedside table."

Beloved heirlooms from her grandmother and father
A look in the safe confirmed the nascent suspicion: the heirlooms - including her grandmother's diamonds, Chopin bracelet and father's watch - had disappeared. The 31-year-old Afghan had stolen them and sold them somewhere on Stephansplatz ...

He had chosen this inelegant course of action due to economic hardship.

Anwalt Elmar Kresbach vertritt den 31-Jährigen.

Bild: Bartel Gerhard/Gerhard Bartel

The lawyer had met the man seven years ago while doing martial arts. She knew that he had money worries: "But he never asked me for money. I would certainly have lent him some", the victim shakes her head uncomprehendingly.

"He had 18 days to look for the key"
"I didn't know anything about the emotional value of the items", the confessed defendant affirms. He had needed the money for the treatment of his father, who had suffered a stroke in Afghanistan. The safe was left open. "What do I need a safe for if I don't lock it?" replies the hostess who was robbed. "He had 18 days to look for the key."

12 months semi-conditional imprisonment
The client of lawyer Elmar Kresbach gets off with a lenient sentence of 12 months in prison, three of which are fixed. Because the pre-trial detention is taken into account, he will soon be released. The man wants to pay his former landlady 15,000 euros in damages.