Shot in the head

“Killed mom so she wouldn’t suffer anymore”

The accused Markus S. (32) accompanied by a prison guard(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

Unimaginable: killing your own mother with a shot to the head. That's what Markus S. (32) from Pinzgau did in the fall, and he admits it. He describes how in the Salzburg provincial court and explains: He wanted to relieve her of her suffering. The unanimous, but not final, verdict: 18 years in prison for murder.

Sonja S. (55) was sitting on the couch in her house in Lofer on November 23, 2023, watching TV. Her son came into the living room with a "Baikal" shotgun in his hand, pointed the long gun at the woman's face at close range - and said: "Mom, I'm sorry. I can't help it." Then he pulled the trigger. Sonja S. was killed instantly. Afterwards, he held her in his arms and then called the police.

This is exactly how Markus S., the murder defendant, described it on Friday in Salzburg Regional Court. The trial audience also heard the emergency call that S. made shortly after the crime: "I've just shot my mother", S. said to the police officer in dialect, clear and almost friendly.

Trained nurse but unemployed for five years
"We won't fully understand this even after the trial," begins public prosecutor Robert Holzleitner in his plea, talking about the Pinzgauer's past: since 2019, he had been "sitting alone on the second floor of the apartment building", says the prosecutor, who speaks of the accused's "considerable psychological problems", which have led to social withdrawal. "That is why the why is also the central question in the trial."

Defendant was addicted and suffered from depression
Because: "Yes, he is guilty. There is no justification for the crime," emphasizes defence lawyer Peter Macheiner. He describes the incident as a "human and family tragedy" and also briefly discusses Markus S.'s life: he grew up with his mother and grandmother. "Very well looked after", he will be told at the trial. He completed the same nursing training as his mother, worked in the same retirement home and lived in the same house his whole life - his mother on the first floor, he on the second floor. Depression, anxiety disorders and a syndrome diagnosed 20 years ago led him to become addicted to medication. "He trusted doctors and became addicted. This developed into a constant battle," says Macheiner.

There were no arguments, no anger, no aggression beforehand. It is simply a human and family tragedy.

Verteidiger Peter Macheiner von der Kanzlei Jelinek

On that day, withdrawal symptoms coupled with alcohol abuse were a factor - he had 2.3 per mille. S. himself describes how he woke up that day, reached for the bottle and realized the personal setback. He is said to have made the decision to kill his mother: "So that she doesn't have to suffer any more because of me." Judge Martina Kocher then confronted him with the words: "And then you just decide to take your mother's life? She could have sought help herself." S. can't find the right answer.

And the two long guns that he legally owned because he occasionally went to the shooting range: "Isn't that problematic with her depression? Did your psychotherapist say anything about it?" Kocher wanted to know. No, says S., that wasn't a problem.

The unanimous verdict of the jury on Friday afternoon: 18 years' imprisonment, not legally binding.