"Janine case"

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The young woman's body was found here.(Bild: Dietmar Mathis )

The now 27-year-old man allegedly strangled a young woman in an apartment in 2022 - the charges are not yet final. 

After two years of investigations, the Feldkirch public prosecutor's office has now brought charges in the murder of a then 30-year-old woman. A now 27-year-old man will have to answer for murder before a jury court in Feldkirch, a 21-year-old man for failing to prevent an act punishable by law. According to the Feldkirch Regional Court, the charges are not yet legally binding, so there is no trial date yet.

The case made waves: The two men and the woman were acquainted and wanted to spend a "party night" together on March 4, 2022, but an argument broke out in the 21-year-old's apartment in Lustenau, allegedly over debts. In the course of the argument, the 27-year-old allegedly strangled the woman. The two men then loaded the woman's dead body into a car and the body was finally dumped in a ditch in Lustenau. The dead woman was discovered there after her father had previously filed a missing persons report.

While the 27-year-old has been in prison for two years, the 21-year-old was released from custody in May 2022. He had credibly claimed that the 27-year-old had killed the woman without his involvement. The 27-year-old denies this and blames the younger man. The 27-year-old is therefore also charged with defamation. Both defendants are also charged with the offense of disturbing the peace of the dead.

According to Dietmar Nußbaumer, spokesman for the Feldkirch Regional Court, the 27-year-old faces a prison sentence of ten to 20 years or life imprisonment if convicted. The 21-year-old could have to spend up to two years in prison. The presumption of innocence applies, Nußbaumer stated in his statement on Thursday.

The fact that the 27-year-old is still in custody at all - this is generally limited to a period of two years in Austria - is due to his outstanding administrative penalties, which allowed an extension of two months. The long duration of the investigation was partly due to the fact that a request for mutual legal assistance was made to the USA regarding the 27-year-old's social media activities at the time.