Trial for attempted murder in Vienna's Fritz Imhoff Park postponed

The 54-year-old defendant with 31 previous convictions appeared experienced in court: “I do not plead guilty to intent to kill.” He admitted to stabbing a 40-year-old in the neck with a bread knife, but claimed that this was done in self-defense . Defense attorney Elmar Kresbach described it as an “act of anger.”

The defendant met with several acquaintances in the park on June 7, 2024 to consume alcohol and drugs, as he told the jury: “I was on the street, there was no one there for me, I wasn't feeling well.” He had spent 28 years of his life in various prisons and received neither the promised community accommodation nor any support after his release from his last sentence. He then fell back into the “drug scene”.

While he and his acquaintances were consuming cheap wine, Jägermeister and cocaine, the 40-year-old approached the group and “asked for drugs,” said the defendant: “He had such big eyes and was very aggressive.” That's why he sent him away . This made the 40-year-old even more aggressive. Suddenly he stabbed him in the stomach with a tiny knife attached to a keychain: “That’s when it escalated. I had to get up and do something.”

According to the prosecution, the defendant jumped up, grabbed a bread knife and stabbed his opponent in the neck. However, not very energetically, as the forensic medical report showed. The blade penetrated two centimeters deep into the other man's body, and there was never any danger to his life.

Defense attorney Kresbach admitted that his client was “not an altar boy, not a saint.” But you shouldn't have to put up with being stabbed in the stomach with a sharp object. The defendant had not thought about the consequences of his stabbing. “Nobody thought about anything on site. They were all out,” Kresbach concluded. Because several people invited to testify failed to appear, the trial was postponed.

This article has been automatically translated, you can read the original article here.