Shocking details

Why Danylo K. (21) was tortured and burned to death

Danylo K. (small picture) died in his father's car on Marlen-Haushofer-Weg.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Martin Jöchl, Ukrainische Nationalpolizei)

One of the most hair-raising murder cases in recent history shocked Austria and Ukraine last week. The victim is Danylo K.: 21 years old, a student in Vienna, wealthy. But why did the son of the deputy mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv have to die in such a gruesome way? 

When fire alarms went off in a residential complex on Marlen-Haushofer-Weg in Vienna's Donaustadt district on the night of November 26, no one expected that a torture-murder could have been the cause. A black Mercedes was completely burnt out - the body of 21-year-old Ukrainian Danylo K. was in the back seat.

Burned alive
After this terrible murder of a 21-year-old Ukrainian student shook Vienna a week ago, more and more pieces of the crime puzzle are now coming together. The police described all the gruesome details of the crime at a press conference on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian was first beaten up by a fellow student in the underground parking garage of the Sofitel, then taken into his father's black Mercedes and tortured. Only hours later, he was burned alive sitting in the back seat on Marlen-Haushofer-Weg in Donaustadt. 

The Ukrainian was badly beaten in that garage and taken into his father's car.(Bild: Zwefo)

Danylo K. (small picture) died in his father's car on Marlen-Haushofer-Weg.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Martin Jöchl, Ukrainische Nationalpolizei)

Family could no longer reach son in Vienna
The day before, on November 25, a desperate appeal for the 21-year-old had already been published in Ukraine. It said that his family had been unable to reach him on his cell phone for some time. Unusual for the son of the Kharkiv deputy mayor, who is always described as polite and friendly. When the wealthy student's crypto accounts were also empty, the family raised the alarm. 

This is a human tragedy.

Charkiws Bürgermeister Igor Terekhov zu „Suspilny“

Mayor of Kharkiv also in mourning
Apparently, the deputy mayor of Kharkiv and the entire family of the murdered man have been in Vienna since Danylo himself was reported missing. According to information from Krone, the 21-year-old was at least temporarily living in a luxurious apartment in the Triiiple Tower on Landstrasse's Danube Canal. At the time of the murder, however, the student was probably living with his partner and their child. 

Before the murder, the suspect bought two cans of petrol in Wagramer Strasse.(Bild: Eva Manhart)

Meanwhile, people in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv are mourning the death of the deputy mayor's son. Mayor Igor Terekhov declined to comment to the "Suspilny" platform, however, pointing out that the loss was a matter for his deputy's family. "This is a human tragedy," he said, however. 

Silence about stolen money
The Austrian authorities are keeping quiet about the amount of money ultimately involved in the torture-robbery-murder. However, it is likely to be a lot of money, as two of the 21-year-old's crypto accounts were emptied after his murder. The two suspects, also Ukrainians (19, 45), were wanted internationally and were caught in their home country last Saturday. They had enormous amounts of money in dollar bills with them. It is suspected that they quickly changed the crypto money into banknotes.