Double murder in Salzburg: “We were afraid” – Austria –
©APA
At the Salzburg Regional Court, the trial against a 52-year-old for double murder actually took place on Wednesday.
The accused, a former detective, confessed on Tuesday that he shot his 50-year-old ex-girlfriend and her 76-year-old mother on May 5, 2021 in Wals-Siezenheim (Flachgau) out of “emotional stress”. The 50-year-old’s brother said he and his mother were against the liaison because she was afraid of the man.
Referred to as a house thief
At 10:30 p.m., the then 51-year-old accused drove to the family home where the 50-year-old lived. First, there should have been a verbal argument with the mother. This insulted him massively, also called him a house thief, and tried to box him out of the house, the Salzburger described yesterday. He drew his gun and fired 11 shots from his 7.65mm Glock pistol at close range, according to the indictment. Ten shots hit the women, they bled to death. The prosecutor spoke of an execution and a planned settlement.
The 50-year-old’s brother today told the jury chaired by Judge Philipp Grosser why he and his mother were against the sister’s relationship with the detective. At first everything seemed fine. In November 2020, the sister said that the man wanted to meet her, she knew him from before. “She said he’s a bit of a rascal,” and had him turned down.
When the detective wanted to help the family with an internal matter, the mother said to her daughter, “why don’t you meet him for coffee, he’s a very nice guy,” said the witness. “Then they went for a walk in Klessheimer Park.” When his sister talked about the meeting and said the man had asked her what kind of cell phone she had, “I thought to myself: be careful”. A week later, in the late evening, he went over to his sister’s house – “each of us had the key from the other and entered the room”. The Salzburger was sitting on her couch. “My mother and I then looked to see if everything was going well.”
“He was unannounced”
The judge remarked that the sister was an adult woman, why did you have to look there? “He was unannounced and the mother knew that.” The curtains were open and the two sat close together. His sister then explained to him and his mother that “she will never let him in here again”. At the time, he did not notice that there was apparently a relationship between the two.
At Christmas, the mother became more and more nervous because of the “exaggerated love messages” from the Salzburger to his sister and the “overflowing gifts”, which the man also left in front of the fence, the brother described. In addition, the detective had already shown a pistol to the sister on the second visit. “He has become more and more conspicuous. The mother recognized that correctly.” It was also strange that the accused had already told his relatives in the second week of Advent that he and his sister were a committed couple with whom he wanted to celebrate Christmas together. “We felt taken by surprise.”
“Feared From Then On”
In one confrontation, the man from Salzburg grabbed his right hand in his half-open winter jacket, “in the area where a gun could be. From then on I was afraid”. He also feared that the detective had targeted the data of customers of the sister’s employer and might want to resell them. “He got my sister under control.” But she said she wouldn’t marry him anyway because she didn’t get any benefit from it.
Considered dangerous
When the judge asked why he didn’t just leave the relationship between the two the way it was, the brother replied: “Because I considered the man dangerous.” He also asked the Austrian Detective Association whether the Salzburger was a member at all and would carry a sharp weapon. “My worries were not recognized.” He assessed the Salzburger as a stalker and wrote to his employer in January 2021 “that we are afraid”. The reaction was unfriendly.
The confessor covered his face. (APA)
felt persecuted
The brother further told the judge that the sister felt persecuted because the detective knew her daily routine. However, they were against filing a complaint. During a conversation with a police officer, he explained that the Salzburg financial plan had intentions and that it wanted to force his sister into a partnership, the witness said. It was then agreed to put the relationship on hold. The detective had previously announced suicide in a text message if the woman ended the relationship.
wanted contact
The witness said that after the agreement there was “mutual and desired contact” between the sister and the detective, as the judge referred to the file, his sister did not tell him anything about it. She has been silent since March. At the end of February, however, the defendant assured his mother that “we love each other dearly”.
“body counting”
During the discussion, a police officer said to him that if the man from Salzburg came back despite the agreement that he would stay away from the woman and him, they should call the police emergency number. “I said, then it’s like back then in Kitzbühel to count the bodies. And that’s exactly how it was then.” A verdict is expected to be handed down tomorrow, Thursday.