Double Murder Alert

Two women shot dead within a few days

The police were out in force in Gersdorf, Styria, and cordoned off the entire area.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

What’s going on? Why did two women have to die in Austria within a few days? Katharina E., 28, in Lower Austria, and a 59-year-old woman from Styria, whose body was found on Wednesday in a remote farmhouse. The prime suspect: her husband. The Minister for Women and the Minister of Justice see a need for action.

Katharina E. had been unreachable for days. She didn’t respond to any calls or messages from her parents, who were on vacation at the time. On Ascension Day, May 14, they rushed to their daughter’s apartment in Kottingbrunn in the Baden district of Lower Austria. And they found her. Dead. With a head injury.

The 28-year-old was lying in a pool of blood. A suspicious death was certified, and an autopsy ordered. The result: The woman was killed by a gunshot to the head (22-caliber)—ammunition typically used by sport shooters or for hunting small game.

The search is on for the perpetrator—in this case, possibly a female suspect. “Currently, the investigation is focusing on the 28-year-old’s immediate circle and acquaintances,” said Stefan Pfandler, head of the State Criminal Police Office. No signs of forced entry were found at the crime scene. Investigators therefore assume that the 28-year-old likely let her killer—whether male or female—into the apartment herself.

Killed wife with a rifle and called relatives
In Styria, however, the search is over. A 64-year-old man from Eastern Styria has been arrested. He is accused of shooting his 59-year-old wife with a rifle. The woman’s body was found on Wednesday in a remote house, an old farmhouse, in Gersdorf an der Feistritz in the district of Weiz. According to police spokesperson Fritz Grundnig, the man is said to have called a close relative and confessed to the crime over the phone. 

The woman’s body was found on Wednesday in an old farmhouse. The suspect was arrested. 

Fritz Grundnig, LPD Steiermark

Bild: Jürgen Fuchs

The exact time of the crime has not yet been determined. The concerned relative immediately alerted emergency services. Since there was information about a firearm in the suspect’s household, experts from the Cobra special unit were called in addition to patrol officers.

“The police negotiation team subsequently made contact with the suspect, and he allowed himself to be arrested without resistance,” Grundnig told the “Krone.” The 64-year-old alleged perpetrator is currently in police custody. The background or motive for the crime is not yet known; the investigation is still in full swing. 

A similar case occurred recently in Styria
Just at the end of April, a 35-year-old woman in Styria was shot and killed by her husband (36), also with a rifle. He then reportedly turned the weapon on himself. In that case as well, the police were alerted by a relative.

Ministers see need for action
Minister for Women Eva-Maria Holzleitner and Minister of Justice Anna Sporrer (both SPÖ) responded to the deadly incident in a joint statement: “It is a sad reality that we in Austria must once again mourn the lives of two women who were killed by firearms.” They emphasized that more decisive action is now required.

Service

Hilfe und Informationen

In Österreich finden Frauen, die Gewalt erleben, u.a. Hilfe und Informationen

• bei der Frauen-Helpline unter: 0800-222-555 bzw. www.frauenhelpline.at

• beim Verein Autonome Österreichische Frauenhäuser (AÖF) unter www.aoef.at

• beim Frauenhaus-Notruf unter 057722

• bei den Österreichischen Gewaltschutzzentren unter 0800/700-217 bzw. www.gewaltschutzzentrum.at

• sowie beim Polizei-Notruf 133

For instance, the reform of the firearms law has already implemented a provisional ban on firearms in cases of domestic violence. “These regulations must be further developed.” However, laws alone are not enough. “Protection against gender-based violence is a task for society as a whole,” the two ministers reminded.