Father (30) in court

Baby shaken to death: “Can’t explain it to me”

The accused father in the Vienna regional court during his murder trial(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

Little Rafael was only three months old - "Because his father shook him so hard on February 3, 2024 that he suffered massive head injuries," explained the public prosecutor on Tuesday. The 30-year-old is now in the Vienna Regional Court for murder. An expert opinion shows that it was not the first time the little boy had been shaken ...

"Today's case is terrible and the trial will not be easy. Of course, any violent crime is one too many. But what we will hear today and next week is particularly unbearable," the public prosecutor in Vienna's regional court tries to prepare the jury. "I ask you to remain strong, because it will be about the death of little Rafael. And about the defendant who is suspected of this murder."

Already brain dead on admission to hospital
Raphael was only three months old when he was brought unconscious to Ottakring Hospital at the beginning of February. "Because his father shook him so hard on February 3, 2024 that he suffered massive head injuries," said the prosecutor. Despite acute treatment, there was nothing more the doctors could do - "The baby was already brain dead when he was admitted to hospital."

Rafael was grabbed and shaken from front to back and back again for several seconds.

Staatsanwältin im Wiener Landesgericht

What kind of family is it where such a cruel act happens? The 30-year-old and his partner had been trying to have children for a long time. Their first daughter was finally born in 2022, followed by Rafael at the end of 2023. "They were wanted children," the public prosecutor clarifies. And defense lawyer Astrid Wagner also told the jury: "He was not an irresponsible father. He was very loving. He loved these little children very much."

Mother was at a children's birthday party
What finally happened on February 3 can only be concluded from expert reports. The young father vehemently denies that he was responsible for his son's fatal head injuries - which are typical of minutes of intense shaking. He was alone with the three-month-old baby for seven hours that day, while the mother (26) was at a children's birthday party with her daughter. The prosecutor is certain: "Rafael is dead and he is the only one who could be responsible."

Rafael not shaken for the first time
The subsequent autopsy of the little boy finally revealed another terrible detail: the baby also had older injuries to his brain. According to the expert opinion, it must have been shaken for the first time one to two weeks before his death. 

The 30-year-old murder defendant is looking everywhere for blame for the death of his little son - except himself. Rafael had not been normal from birth. "The doctors didn't take us seriously. They said he was completely healthy. But that wasn't true." He was breathing heavily and had digestive problems. "That is no explanation as to why the baby died of a shaking trauma," interjected Judge Christina Salzborn. "I can't explain it", said the 30-year-old in a tearful voice. 

Medical experts, who are supposed to explain the little boy's injuries in more detail, have their say on the next day of the trial. Witnesses from the family will also be heard during the trial. In particular, the child's mother, who was also initially remanded in custody as a murder suspect, has to take her place in the witness box. However, she does not wish to testify against her partner. The two-year-old daughter is currently in the care of her grandmother.