"Like on a punching bag"

Murder trial: “Punched like a punching bag”

The Hungarian denies intent to murder in court in Vienna - but also any memory.(Bild: Sophie Pratschner, Krone KREATIV)

A 55-year-old man threw eleven powerful punches at a man at Vienna Central Station. Severely injured, the victim took the bus to Vienna-Schwechat Airport - where he finally collapsed. The trial against the beating Hungarian not only highlighted the enormous violence, but also the lack of civil courage shown by passers-by. He was sent to prison for nine years. According to the jury, it was ultimately not murder.

Waiting hall at Vienna Central Station: around a dozen people are waiting for their train, sitting on the benches. In the middle of them are two men - one of whom suddenly starts beating the other wildly. He hits the 37-year-old in the head with eleven punches. "I was shocked by the brutality of the blows. He hits the victim's head like a punching bag," the public prosecutor explained to the jury in Vienna's Landl district.

"Everyone looks away"
And the passers-by? Some don't pay the shocking scene of violence a single glance, others simply stand up and walk away or look on impassively - as the surveillance video shows. "Everyone looks away. Nobody calls station security or the police," says the 55-year-old's defense lawyer, showing no understanding. Because intervening could perhaps have saved the man's life - who died from the beatings by the accused Hungarian.

Crime scene train station, location airport
The man was found unconscious a few hours later in the arrivals hall at Vienna-Schwechat Airport. Investigations showed that he had traveled there by bus, but then succumbed to severe craniocerebral trauma and a cerebral hemorrhage. Using a so-called camera tracing, the officers were finally able to find out what had happened at Vienna Central Station. Two days after the brutal attack, which was probably preceded by an argument, the 55-year-old was arrested. One of the investigators recognized him by chance at the station. 

"I don't remember that day at all," the homeless man asserts that he has no memory. Due to excessive alcohol consumption. However, he would recognize himself from the video as the man who hits the 37-year-old in the face eleven times with full force. However, the man with three previous convictions denies any intention to kill.

Defendant should have expected death
However, the public prosecutor is convinced that such violence to the head - "the most sensitive part of the body" - must be expected to have a fatal outcome.

§ Section 86 StGB Assault with fatal outcome

(2)Anyone who injures another person's body or damages their health and thereby negligently causes their death is liable to a prison sentence of one to fifteen years.

However, the jury took a different view: they convicted the 55-year-old "only" of assault causing death. The sentencing range here is one to 15 years in prison. The lay judges consider nine years to be appropriate. The verdict is not yet final.