Murder turned into an accident

“Shoot, you Punch!” Young Carinthian man is dead

The defendant confessed at the Klagenfurt Regional Court and was also remorseful. However, the background to the crime remains a mystery.(Bild: Wassermann Kerstin)

Even after the trial, it is still unclear why a young man in Carinthia had to die. What is certain is that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when a shot was fired from a rifle. The case was initially investigated for murder - what remained was a sentence of partial imprisonment for gross negligence manslaughter.

It is a hot summer night in Knappenberg. And heated too. A 44-year-old man gets into an argument with his stepson in the pub and drives home, exasperated. But the young man calls. "He probably threatened to kill him," says public prosecutor Veronika Holub.

Wanted to drive the drunk away
And came to the stepfather's remote house accompanied by friends. "He was afraid, grabbed the gun from the bedroom cupboard and wanted to drive the drunks away." The defendant nods. That's exactly how it was - he wanted to intimidate, but not hurt anyone. The victim, a young businessman with whom he had nothing to do, was also standing next to his stepson and jeered: "Shoot, you Punch!"

The drama caused quite a stir in Knappenberg. Many people attended the trial. And opinions about the prosecution and the verdict are divided.(Bild: Tratnik Marcel)

Shot right in the heart
And the shot rang out. It hit the 36-year-old right in the heart. Initially, the case was therefore investigated for murder, but then the crime reconstruction revealed that the man killed had also picked up a gun. "What is striking about the sporting rifle from the 1950s is the low trigger pull weight," says expert Manuel Fliess. When your finger is on the trigger, all it takes is a tiny amount of pressure and it goes off.

 "For the victim's family, it's still incomprehensible that it's not murder," say the private party representatives. For the accused and defense lawyer Philipp Tschernitz, on the other hand, gross negligence manslaughter is the correct legal classification. "I'm very sorry," the gunman affirms several times.

The sentence takes this into account: 15 months imprisonment, ten of which are conditional, plus bereavement compensation of between 5,000 and 10,000 euros for each of the victim's surviving relatives. The decision is not yet final.