Breakthrough in Cold Case

21 Years After Murder in Phone Booth: Lawyer Speaks

Investigators at the crime scene at the time. The body was found in a phone booth near Rapoldipark in Innsbruck.(Bild: APA/ROBERT PARIGGER)

It is a spectacular twist in the Daniela Kammerer murder case: Nearly 21 years after the gruesome killing of the Lower Austrian student in Innsbruck, the perpetrator may finally be brought to justice. On Tuesday, the district attorney’s office filed charges against a 42-year-old Austrian man. But the suspect now lives on the other side of the world. What happens next and what the lawyer says.

Covered in blood, Daniela Kammerer (19) lay in a phone booth near Innsbruck’s Rapoldipark in the early morning of June 23, 2005. Two days before her 20th birthday, an unknown assailant had stabbed the business administration student in the chest and back with a knife.

Nearly 21 years have passed since the murder. But why did the pretty young woman from Lower Austria have to die? The background and motive for the crime remain completely unclear.

Investigators at the crime scene at the time. The body was found in a phone booth near Rapoldipark in Innsbruck.(Bild: APA/ROBERT PARIGGER)

Arrest at Vienna-Schwechat Airport
Initially, investigators focused on a Bosnian asylum seeker who allegedly had ties to the North African drug scene. But the man was released. In 2013, a former classmate of Kammerer’s was handcuffed at Vienna International Airport. Foreign DNA had been found on the young woman’s skirt after all—it belonged to the man, now 42 years old.

“Since this evidence turned out not to be as conclusive as initially assumed, the defendant was released from custody and the preliminary investigation was closed in 2014,” explains Hansjörg Mayr of the Innsbruck Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Public sympathy was enormous at the time.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Case was never closed
But no stone was left unturned in the effort to solve the murder. “DNA tests were commissioned time and again—even on evidence that had already been examined—because forensic examination methods have been continuously improving.”

DNA traces on cigarette butts
Then finally a match! A DNA trace belonging to the Austrian man (42), who had since emigrated to Australia, was discovered on the filter of a partially smoked cigarette left in the phone booth. “The District Attorney’s Office concludes from this that the man was at the crime scene.”

Based on this new evidence, the suspicion of guilt was reinforced, and the prosecution filed charges of murder. “Upon filing the charges, the prosecution revoked the arrest warrant against the defendant,” said Mayr. The defendant, through his defense attorney, has agreed to travel to the trial voluntarily.

Charges “on shaky ground”
The defendant’s Tyrolean attorney, Mathias Kapferer, confirmed this once again to the APA: He would, of course, speak with the 42-year-old again, including regarding the possibility of an objection to the indictment. As for the latter, he noted—setting aside the specific case—that his usual approach is to file such an objection only when it is necessary for “formal reasons.” Otherwise, such an objection is often not the right course of action, the attorney pointed out, citing standard legal and criminal practice and experience.

The present indictment is built on shaky ground.

Mathias Kapferer, Anwalt des Beschuldigten

Bild: Christof Birbaumer

One thing is clear to him, in any case: “The present indictment is built on shaky ground.” There is “abundant evidence” that the whole matter “simply did not happen” as the prosecution assumes, and that his client therefore could not be the perpetrator. Kapferer referred, for example, to a private expert opinion regarding the cigarette butt in question, which clearly documents and proves this.

Furthermore, in rejecting the motion to dismiss the case, the Innsbruck Higher Regional Court noted that there was “no strong suspicion” against the 42-year-old, which would also be necessary for imposing pretrial detention. This is correct, confirmed Public Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Hansjörg Mayr to APA. However, the Higher Regional Court did note that there was “concrete suspicion of a crime.”

“Not Hiding in Australia”
According to Kapferer, it must be noted in any case that his client has never been hiding in Australia for any reason, but rather lives there, has consistently and proactively countered the allegations, and has behaved cooperatively.

Charges not yet legally binding
The public prosecutor’s office, meanwhile, stated that under the law, charges must be filed if a conviction is likely. Otherwise, the case would have to be dismissed. It was emphasized that the presumption of innocence still applies in the case despite the indictment. After nearly 21 years of investigative work, however, a substantial body of evidence has been gathered: The investigative file now comprises over 480 documents, some of which are over 100 pages long, including more than 20 forensic reports, some of which involve multiple trace evidence analyses.

The indictment is not yet legally binding. It can be appealed within 14 days. A date for the trial before the jury court has therefore not yet been set.