Steel pipe attack

Murder suspect injures fellow inmate in prison

The dangerous assault took place in the Ried/I. prison.(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger/Daniel Scharinger)

Wild scenes are said to have taken place in a detention room at Ried im Innkreis prison (Upper Austria). A 22-year-old man charged with the murder of his father is said to have suddenly beaten a fellow inmate with an iron pipe. The injured victim had to be treated in hospital.

The 22-year-old is being held in Ried im Innkreis prison for allegedly killing his father in Obernberg am Inn with several stab wounds on the night of January 19, 2024. At a first trial on November 14, 2024, he justified himself by saying that he had been afraid for his life. His defense lawyer Andreas Mauhart pleaded self-defense. A verdict has yet to be reached and there are likely to be further trial days. 

No recognizable motive
However, it has now become known that the young man has since had another criminal offense in Ried prison. "We are investigating deliberate grievous bodily harm," Franz Joseph Zimmer, spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Ried, confirmed to the Krone.

What happened? The 22-year-old is said to have suddenly attacked a fellow inmate with a steel pipe in his prison cell on November 23. Apparently, he suddenly and without warning savagely beat the 41-year-old, who was serving time for property offenses, several times. "There was no recognizable motive for the attack", emphasizes Zimmer.

Multiple injuries
The victim suffered bruises to the back of his head, a laceration to his skull and bruises to his left leg. The injured man had to be treated in hospital.

The murder weapon - a steel pipe around 90 centimetres long and three centimetres in diameter - is believed to have been removed from the bed of the other inmate by the 22-year-old. "A stabbing weapon was also found under the young man's bed - a screw around eight centimetres long with a homemade handle, but it was not used in the incident."

In separate cells
The two prisoners are now being held in separate cells. If the 22-year-old is convicted of murder, the assault in the prison could have an impact on the sentence.

His lawyer in Linz, Andreas Mauhart, sees the incident in Rieder prison as nothing out of the ordinary: "A port is not a kindergarten. When people with criminal energy are crammed into a confined space, it's only logical that fights break out."