Gruesome Murder Details

Mother of Four Executed, Buried Under Grass

The 38-year-old woman was murdered and buried under the grass in her own garden.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Doris Seebacher, zVg, Krone KREATIV)

Luka O. (47) is alleged to have stabbed the mother of his children to death with a screwdriver and shot her with a pistol. The gun was illegal; he is in custody. The “Krone” knows his perfidious plan...

Easter Sunday. Let’s call him Luka O. The 47-year-old drives to his wife’s house. To that house in Sooß in the district of Baden (Lower Austria), where he once lived with her and their four well-behaved children—before their separation in 2019. Maria O. (name also changed) granted her “ex” entry, which would ultimately cost her her life

The 38-year-old woman of Serbian-Kosovar descent was literally executed: hacked to death with a screwdriver, shot with a pistol (9 millimeters), possibly killed by the gunshot. In any case, she sustained severe injuries to her head and upper body.

The 38-year-old was murdered and buried under grass in her own garden.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Doris Seebacher, zVg, Krone KREATIV)

Further interrogations planned for Tuesday
What led to the massacre of the popular woman—she worked in the produce section of a large supermarket—is still under investigation. The suspected perpetrator is in custody and is not saying much; further questioning is scheduled for Tuesday. However, he had a devious plan to divert attention from himself regarding the death of the mother of his children. He wanted to tell the children about a stranger who was supposed to have killed their mother.

There are stab and gunshot wounds. A screwdriver and a pistol were seized—an autopsy has been ordered.

Erich Habitzl, Staatsanwalt Wiener Neustadt

In reality, he is said to have carried the body out of the house and left it in the garden of the family home. There, according to “Krone” reports, he covered it with grass clippings. When the 13-year-old son came home (the four children are believed to be between 11 and 15 years old), he told the far-fetched story about a stranger who had suddenly appeared on Easter Sunday. “Mom was murdered. I found her dead!” The presumption of innocence applies.

The boy is said to have alerted the police, apparently together with his father. Maria O. was discovered by officers in her grass-covered grave. Luka O. is said to have stated relatively quickly that he had moved the body outside to spare the children the sight of their dead mother in the house.

Grief at the scene
In the wine tavern town of Sooß, only grief and disbelief were palpable during the “Krone” on-site visit on Monday. “It’s tragic what happened here,” say three men in the tavern. An elderly woman who knew the victim personally recounts: “My grandson and her daughter attended the same kindergarten. She was such a lovely woman.” She didn’t know the man. She just wonders: “Why can’t people just break up normally these days?” But for Luka O., it was: ‘Till death do us part...’