"Lies in any case"

Despite a no-contact order: man (59) stabs ex to death

The Pole in the Vienna regional court.(Bild: Pratschner Sophie, Krone KREATIV)

Police orders to leave, a restraining order - none of it helped. A 59-year-old man stabbed his ex-girlfriend anyway and allegedly tried to kill her. In the Vienna provincial court during his jury trial, he claimed: "She's definitely lying." But the jury was not convinced.

The restraining order against a Polish man was only a few hours old - until he violated it. He is said to have visited his ex-girlfriend with a kitchen knife on March 21. "He then said to her: 'You whore, now I don't care'," said the public prosecutor. And stabbed her in the groin area. "The victim was extremely lucky in this incident."

Words were followed by deeds
Because the accused could just as easily have hit important blood vessels - the public prosecutor's office is charging attempted murder. There had already been repeated incidents in the run-up to the stabbing, and the police also had to arrive twice. "The defendant drank more and more alcohol. As a result of this alcohol problem, he became more and more aggressive."

He said he was going to stab me and then himself. The next day he cried and said that it would never happen again.

Das 56-jährige Opfer erzählt von der ersten Todesdrohung 

In October 2023, he threatened his then partner with death at knifepoint. "He said he was going to stab me and then himself. The next day he cried and said that it would never happen again," the woman described on the witness stand. But that wasn't the case: at the beginning of March, she found him sitting at the kitchen table with a bread knife in his hand. And again he announced that he would kill her - she called the police and he was turned away. Two weeks later, he is said to have finally tried to make good on his threats.

"She is definitely lying"
A one-sided story - the 59-year-old's defense lawyer is convinced. There had been mutual violence in the relationship, as the 56-year-old had also beaten her partner. The Polish man's statement to the jury can be summarized as follows: "She is definitely lying." Although he could no longer fully remember the days of the incident - due to the alcohol; at the time of the stabbing he had a blood alcohol level of 3.2 - he said that he had never threatened the woman.

Although the jury did not believe him, they also denied any intent to murder. They convicted the stabbing of the woman in the groin area as attempted grievous bodily harm. The 59-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison.