Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

CRIME

Man strangled ex-wife with shoelace

A man from Upper Austria who bludgeoned his wife with a rolling pin and then strangled her with a shoelace is on trial for her murder in Leoben.

Published: 3 February 2015 12:59 CET

He has confessed to the killing, which took place last April, and claimed that she drove him to it with her constant nagging. “I just wanted to shut her up,” the Austrian Press Agency quoted him as saying.

The 51-year-old married his wife in 2009, but a year later the couple had divorced. However, they remained living together, even though they quarrelled constantly.

On April 24th 2014 the couple had been drinking and had a row as the man had not painted the house, as he had promised to. The wife went into the bedroom. Her ex went into the kitchen, grabbed a rolling pin and then attacked her in the bedroom, hitting her on the head and dragging her out of bed.

The prosecutor said that he hit her with such force that both handles of the rolling pin broke off. He then tied her feet together, taped her mouth, and strangled her to death with a shoelace. He told the judge that he had “just wanted to scare her” but that suddenly “she went quiet”.

He then cleaned the house and only called the police and ambulance hours later. He told police that he had found the 52-year-old lying dead on the floor after he returned from walking the dog, but later admitted that he had “been furious” with his ex.

Asked by the judge if that was the reason he had attacked her, he replied that he “didn’t recall”.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Are there 'young gangs' forming in Vienna?

Austrian tabloid media jumps on such stories: a group of teenage girls breaking into cars in Linz or vandalism and robberies committed by young people in Vienna. Particularly in the capital, it seems that there was a rise in crimes committed by groups of young people. But does that mean that Vienna has a gang problem?

According to the newspaper daily Der Standard, the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate (LPD) repeatedly states that the much-cited youth gangs do not exist but that there is “an increase in young people appearing in groups and committing offences”.

What does that mean, and what is the difference between “young people appearing in groups and committing offences” and gangs?

According to the police: “The term gang is commonly used in everyday language – without a precise definition in this context. In criminal law, however, the term is clearly defined. From a criminal law perspective, a gang is an organised, hierarchically structured group of people intent on committing offences on an ongoing basis.”

READ ALSO: Which crimes are on the rise in Austria?

According to the police, they are dealing with “groups that come together spontaneously” and are not “hierarchically organised.” These groups mostly commit “thefts or minor robberies” but are not criminal organisations.

So, technically, Vienna does not have a “youth gang” problem, but it does have an increase in young people in groups committing crimes – though the police didn’t share official numbers.

A recent Kurier report stated that the number of crimes committed by young people and children under the age of 14 has doubled in the last ten years.

At the same time, there has only been a slight increase among young people over the age of 14 and even a decrease among young adults. The main crimes committed by young people and adolescents are theft, damage to property, assault, burglary and dangerous threats.

Christian Holzhacker, Head of Education at the Association of Viennese Youth Centers, told Der Standard that it is important not to “stigmatise” an age group and that the word gang is often used in an “inflationary way”. He points out that in relation to the size of the Viennese population, the number of minors committing crimes is small, even if it is increasing.

He also highlighted that stigmatising regions or groups of young people who get together in public spaces is not the answer. “If you want to fight crime, you have to look at the realities of the lives of the people who have committed crimes,” he said.

READ ALSO: Is Vienna a safe city to visit?

What are the police doing about the crime?

Austria’s federal criminal police office has gathered a new special task force to combat youth crime (EJK). According to the Ministry of the Interior, the idea is to recognise the new phenomenon and combat youth gangs in Austria.

The task force is set to carry out checks in public spaces, particularly in urban areas and “potential hotspots”, Kurier reported.

The task force also set up a “panel of experts” to suggest how parents can be more responsible, how children’s use of social media and cell phones can be improved, and how the asylum system can better accommodate young migrants.

However, Dieter Csefan, head of the task force, told Die Presse that most young offenders were born in Austria.

“There are unaccompanied minors, but the young people we meet in the groups and gangs usually have parents. And the prolific offenders often come from a normal home. They can also be native Austrians. So it’s not always just Afghans or Syrians”, he said.

He also mentioned that “lowering the age of criminal responsibility is one suggestion” to fight crime. Currently, the age is set at 18, but there are discussions and proposals to lower it to twelve. However, “that alone is not necessarily enough”, he added.

READ NEXT: Which parts of Austria have the highest crime rates?

Url copied to clipboard!