Fake Plumbers

88-Year-Old Woman Robbed at Home: Prison Sentence

Only two of the defendants: the one in the gray suit also attacked the elderly woman from Lower Austria.(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

The plan was neither well thought out nor successful. On April 8, the five defendants attempted to rob a Vienna resident at his home by posing as fake plumbers—but he simply shut them down. However, just four months earlier, an elderly woman in Lower Austria unfortunately did not have the same reflexes...

The victim was 88 years old when, on December 18, 2025, two young men gained access to her home in Langenzersdorf (Lower Austria). While the elderly woman was at home, they rang the doorbell and pretended to be plumbers. The woman from Lower Austria will likely never forget what happened next: The fake plumbers overpowered her, beat her—and finally tied her up and gagged her in the bedroom. 

Second Home Invasion Planned
All of this for a ridiculous haul of 120 euros and a cell phone. One of the two perpetrators is now in the dock at the Vienna Regional Court: a Serbian man who is only 19 years old. But he’s not alone. Together with four other men, he planned to commit another home invasion on April 8. “I haven’t seen such a botched robbery in a long time,” sums up one of the defense attorneys, Elmar Kresbach. 

He knew where to find money. His plan was: The guy has money. We’re supposed to go in and take it.

Angeklagter Serbe (32)

The entire plan had only been hatched the day before. “It was a stupid plan,” admits a 32-year-old Serbian man. “As luck would have it, we had a little bit of drugs with us.” The second defendant, who is the same age, adds: “We were up for four days on cocaine.” And then the unknown accomplice joined them, who is also said to have played a leading role in the robbery of the 88-year-old woman: “He knew where to get the money. His plan was: The man has money. We’re supposed to go in and take it.”

Only two of the defendants: the one in the gray suit also robbed the elderly woman from Lower Austria.(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

The modus operandi—exactly the same as with the 88-year-old: “The perpetrators pose as plumbers and offer cheap water heater maintenance,” the prosecutor alleges. One was supposed to go into the apartment and leave the door ajar. The rest stormed in, intimidated the resident, and finally grabbed all the valuables. The problem: “The victim kept closing the door,” explains the prosecutor. So the five men left empty-handed, taking their alarm pistol with them.

From left to right: defense attorneys Wolfgang Haas, Elmar Kresbach, Bettina Casper-Bures, Philipp Winkler, and Michael Babic(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

Was it abandonment of the attempt?
“Please take a close look at what that means legally,” urges defense attorney Bettina Caspar-Bures. She is referring to abandonment of the attempt, which would result in no punishment for four of the men. Except, of course, for the 19-year-old Serbian who was involved in the brutal assault on the 88-year-old woman. “He was there. He didn’t want to hurt the woman and didn’t hit her,” says his lawyer. That would have been the unknown perpetrator who also presented the subsequent plan to the five men. The perpetrator who is now supposed to be behind bars in Bosnia...

The defendants in Vienna will now also have to spend some time there. The men were sentenced to between two and a half and seven years in prison. The harshest sentence was handed down to the 19-year-old who had also attacked the elderly woman from Lower Austria. The verdicts are not yet final.