"Impossible forces"

72-year-old attacked social worker with a hammer

The victim before her trial in Vienna.(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

Small, petite and calm, the old lady stands in the Vienna Provincial Court. The 72-year-old is not even handcuffed - there is no sign of aggression. Things were different in July 2023, when she tried to kill a social worker in a fit of madness.

It is one of the most serious crimes in the Austrian penal code: Murder - even if it remains an attempt. And yet you can't help but feel sympathy for the 72-year-old woman in Vienna's provincial court. Wearing an oversized sweater and jogging bottoms, the small woman stands calmly in front of the courtroom, looking around with a friendly face and waiting for her trial.

Untreated for decades
The former cleaning lady has suffered from severe schizophrenia for decades, but has never received treatment. When her husband died in July 2021, she lost her closest caregiver. The 72-year-old then lived in an apartment with no electricity, gas or water. She therefore has an adult representative who also has her pension.

"Developed powers that are almost impossible"
"However, she was not able to cope with her illness and did not want to accept this help," explains the public prosecutor. When a social worker tried to bring the old lady her pension in the middle of last July, she attacked him. The petite 72-year-old hit him in the head with a hammer - fortunately without hitting him. "In such a state, those affected can develop powers that are otherwise almost impossible," explained the public prosecutor.

During the summation, the woman repeatedly whispers "fear" and the prosecutor agrees: "I believe that she perceived the situation as very threatening." The jury's decision following the recommendation of psychiatrist Peter Hofmann: placement in a forensic therapeutic center - not legally binding.