In danger of collapsing

Weingarten murder: body still lying in cellar

The investigation continued on Sunday. The body of the murder suspect Oleg M. is said to still be in the cellar tunnel.(Bild: Josef Poyer, Krone KREATIV)

After the gruesome murder of Barbara R. on Friday, the investigation is still in full swing on Sunday. The suspect Oleg M. is said to have blown himself up in the cellar of a winegrower in Zistersdorf - now the tunnel is in danger of collapsing. The lifeless body is still down there, and the police say that an identity check will be carried out "in the foreseeable future".

Investigators assume that the dead man is 59-year-old Slovakian citizen Oleg M. The cellar tunnel in the Zistersdorf cadastral municipality of Gösting, where the body is located, is currently not yet accessible. The suspect detonated an explosive device during an attempted Cobra raid on Saturday morning and caused damage to the property.

Investigators' safety in the foreground
Police spokesman Raimund Schwaigerlehner announced that a decision will be made on Sunday as to how the police intend to proceed. A structural engineer could be called in, but safety is generally the priority. At the same time, explosives experts are trying to process the area as far as possible. The exact circumstances of the man's death are still being investigated, as is the identity of the body found in the tunnel.

Small restricted area remains in place
A small exclusion zone remained in place in Gösting on Sunday. The safety measures are expected to continue until Monday. However, the evacuations of around ten houses were lifted. The residents, who had been temporarily housed in the town hall in Zistersdorf, were allowed to return to their properties at around midnight on Saturday.

During the operation, some residents were accommodated in the Zistersdorf town hall.(Bild: Josef Poyer, Krone KREATIV)

The murder suspect had been holed up in his ex-boss's basement tunnel for hours. Early on Saturday morning, an initial attempt to gain access failed, one Cobra officer was seriously injured and another had to be treated as an outpatient. In the afternoon hours, the man's body was finally discovered in the building. Technical equipment had been brought into the cellar area.

The discovery marked the end of an "extremely demanding and very stressful operation" that lasted 24 hours, as state police director Franz Popp put it at a press conference on Saturday. 220 officers were deployed.

The extremely demanding and harrowing operation lasted around 24 hours. 220 officers were deployed.(Bild: Imre Antal)

The accused was classified by the investigators as "generally dangerous". The Slovakian had already attracted attention in several European countries for unauthorized possession of weapons and explosives. However, his environment in Gösting was probably unaware of this: He was perceived there as a very quiet and inconspicuous person.

Perpetrator and victim knew each other
At least until last Friday: the 59-year-old is said to have killed 65-year-old Barbara R. in a vineyard with a knife, which he always carried with him according to acquaintances. The woman was found with stab wounds at around 4.30 pm. There had been an acquaintance between the perpetrator and the victim, the police emphasized. An autopsy was ordered by the public prosecutor's office in Korneuburg.