"Bastard will die"

Stepson (5) killed: The deep hatred inside Alina S.

In June 2023, Alina S. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus committal to an institution for mentally disturbed offenders.(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

Samuel was only five years old. The Carinthian boy lost his young life under the wheels of a car. His father's new wife had decided to kill him and his mother. To have the man all to herself.

"There are now two more stars in the sky," was written on a small plaque commemorating two lost lives in Villach in Carinthia: a mother and her five-year-old son Samuel had previously been victims of an incomprehensible crime. A crime that will remain unforgotten forever. And ultimately unpunished - even if the murderer of the two is likely to remain behind bars or at least in psychiatric treatment for the rest of her life due to her severe disorder.

Does she herself, in her cell, think about her terrible deed? Of the day on which the lives of two young people ended and her own path into the abyss began? It is 29 January 2022 and Samuel, who has recently turned five, is riding his little blue scooter on a wide residential street through Völkendorf, a district of Villach. His mother Ramona walks behind him, trying to keep up with the happy whirlwind.

The crime scene in Villach: Friends of the victims mourned Samuel and his mother Ramona there.(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

It's cold, clouds of breath rise when the boy laughs and tells his mom what he dreams about and what he wants to do in winter. Maybe he was also talking about his dad. About what they could do when his father comes to visit again. Or maybe Samuel raved about his Christmas presents, which he loves to play with ...

Nobody knows. Just as little as mother and son can suspect that death is lurking for them. Death's name is Alina S.