Life imprisonment

Murder trial: “Defendant is highly dangerous”

The accused Karl K. in court in Leoben on Monday.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz, Krone KREATIV)

At the end of June last year, a young man from Styria killed his mother's partner with 39 stab wounds. "He is highly dangerous. It can be assumed that he will commit similar acts in the coming days and weeks without preventive detention," emphasized the psychiatric expert at the trial on Monday. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder.

When the forensic pathologist arrived at the crime scene on June 28, 2023, the victim was lying in a pool of blood almost two meters in size. The 49-year-old's body was covered in stab wounds. The doctor counted 15 on his head alone. There were 60 wounds in total. 39 deep stab wounds, the rest superficial cuts and scratches. "He bled to death", the doctor said simply in court in Leoben on Monday.

It can be assumed that he will commit similar acts in the coming days and weeks if he is not placed in preventive detention.

die psychiatrische Sachverständige

"No remorse, no compassion"
The psychiatric expert also finds clear words: "The accused fulfills all the criteria of an antisocial, dissocial personality disorder. He is highly dangerous. It can be assumed that he will commit similar acts in the coming days and weeks if he is not placed in preventive detention." He is cold-blooded and unfeeling. Knows no remorse and no compassion. "Everyone is to blame but him. He has an excuse for everything. Typical of his severe personality disorder."

The presiding judge Robert Schwarzl(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

The 25-year-old himself described the psychiatrist's statements as "bullshit". He could only remember the crime in fragments anyway. He had taken a lot of medication for his panic attacks and anxiety, which he had had since childhood. He had bought the tablets in Zeltweg with a prescription from his family doctor. He also drank beer and vodka.

I don't want to have anything more to do with all that. It won't bring my partner back either. It's hell. I'm at the end.

Die Mutter des Angeklagten

"Then we had a fight"
After a binge with his "drinking friends" in Zeltweg, he went home to his mother. "I was so depressed. Mom told me to calm down and have a beer." But his mother's 49-year-old partner (59) shouted that he should leave. "I told him to shut up and then we got into a fight." His mother herself said on the day of the trial: "I don't want to have anything more to do with any of this. It won't bring my partner back either. It's hell. I'm at the end of my rope." 

Public prosecutor Annika Maierhofer(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

He didn't stop stabbing the victim even when he was lying lifeless on the floor. His death could not be prevented.

Die Staatsanwältin 

At some point, he picked up the kitchen knife and stabbed him. "I didn't want to murder him, but I was on so much stuff." The psychiatric expert contradicts this statement: "If you had consumed the same thing without your illness, you wouldn't have killed anyone." 

"Hated to the core"
"He didn't stop stabbing the victim even when he was lying lifeless on the floor. His death could not be prevented", the public prosecutor describes. The video of the crime reconstruction gives an idea of the defendant's dangerous disorder. The 25-year-old is constantly laughing, arrogant and ice-cold when it comes to the gory details. When the prosecutor asks him if he knew the victim well, the defendant says: "Well enough that I hated him to death."

When the prosecutor wants to know why, he ends the conversation flippantly. "We are finished. I want to go to my cell, have a coffee and a cigarette." When he then insults the prosecutor and the magistrate reprimands him, the violent offender says dryly: "I killed a person. I don't feel bad about an insult."

The 25-year-old was found guilty of murder and was also committed to a forensic therapy center. The verdict is not final.