Stabbed wife to death

Father of nine on trial for attempted murder

The jury convened on Tuesday at Salzburg Provincial Court. A verdict could be reached today.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

A father of nine (53) is to stand trial on Tuesday for attempted murder. He is said to have stabbed his wife (43) at least 13 times with a kitchen knife on the street in Salzburg in October. He confessed to the crime. A verdict could be reached today. 

The incident caused great consternation: On October 6 last year, a Somali man stabbed his 43-year-old wife in public in Sterneckstraße in Salzburg-Schallmoos. Today, Tuesday, the 53-year-old has to answer to a jury for attempted murder. He confessed to the crime, his lawyer pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter. The woman suffered stab wounds that were life-threatening. Public prosecutor Ricarda Eder spoke of a relationship crime and attempted femicide. 

The previously blameless Somali man initially tried to persuade his wife to return to their shared apartment on the way to the childcare center in the morning. However, because he allegedly physically attacked his wife in September 2023 and then threatened and coerced her on the phone, he was not allowed to enter the apartment or approach her at that time.

He stabbed the woman 13 times - she survived
An argument then broke out on the sidewalk in Sterneckstraße on October 6. When the woman did not agree to his demand that she return to her apartment, the man pulled a knife with a six-centimetre blade out of his trouser pocket in front of the childcare facility. He stabbed her in the stomach, chest, face and arms - 13 times in total. If a courageous witness had not intervened and the police had not happened to be on the spot, the woman would no longer be alive, emphasized public prosecutor Eder. According to a psychiatric report, the 53-year-old was only partially sane at the time of the crime.

The accused has been married to the victim for 19 years. However, he denied intent to kill during the trial at the regional court. "I admit that I committed the crime. To this day, I don't know where exactly I stabbed her. I can't explain why I did it," he said to the presiding judge Ilona Schalwich-Mozes. "I was only concerned about my children. I wanted to return home."