14-year-old confesses

Brother died from 17 powerful axe blows to the head

(Bild: Jürgen Fuchs)

Horror in Kindberg in Upper Styria: a 14-year-old has confessed to killing his brother (36) with an axe. The results of the autopsy are now available: 17 powerful blows left the victim no chance of survival. The suspect has been remanded in custody.

The 14-year-old R., who confessed to killing his own brother on Monday, faces a sentence of one to ten years in prison. The 36-year-old was severely beaten - the murder weapon, a "Viking axe", was still in the suspect's rucksack. Although the axe was merely a decorative object, it had a sharp edge on both sides.

Man bled to death after blows
After the autopsy on Wednesday, it was clear that the victim died of an air embolism and bled to death at the scene of the crime, the family home in the Kindberg district of Mürzhofen. "At least 17 powerful blows to the head led to death", Viktoria Steinecker from the Leoben public prosecutor's office told the "Krone" newspaper. The neck and back were also injured.

The pupil - who, as reported, attended the polytechnic in Kapfenberg - also confessed fully in the compulsory interrogation on Wednesday.

The magistrate then ordered R., who had already been transferred to Leoben prison on Tuesday, to be remanded in custody.