Horror in Marchtrenk

Profiler After the Crime: “To Him, She Wasn’t a Human Being”

Profiler Patricia Staniek on the psyche of the Upper Austrian man who is alleged to have abused his wife to death and sold her to other men for the most depraved sexual acts: “He exercised power and control over his victim, whom he evidently regarded as his property.”

“Krone”: Ms. Staniek—how is it possible that a man is capable of inflicting such suffering on his wife?
Patricia Staniek: To the man in question, his wife was not a human being, but an object that he used for his abhorrent purposes.

At the same time, however, the accused likely led—at least outwardly—a seemingly “normal” life with the victim.
The alleged perpetrator appears tohave leda psychological double life, in which he assumed two different roles. On the one hand, that of the unassuming husband; on the other, that of the tormentor. A role that allowed him to unleash the evil side within him. He exercised power and control over his wife, whom he evidently regarded as his property and used as he pleased.

The man, who has since been arrested, crossed the most absurd boundaries. He ultimately even “rented out” his wife to other men. How did it come to this?
 Itwas likely a longroad leading up to this point. First, there was the fantasy, which eventually became reality. I assume that the defendant’s cruelty has escalated over the years.

First there was the fantasy, which eventually became reality. I assume that the accused has grown increasingly cruel over the years.

Die Profilerin über den mutmaßlichen Täter

The victim—she must have been hurt time and time again. Why, then, did she never raise the alarm, seek help, or free herself from her husband?
That is precisely why he likely sedated his wife or got her drunk. Apparently, he wanted to prevent her from consciously perceiving the assaults, remembering them later, and realizing who was inflicting these injuries on her. Presumably, she could not imagine that her own husband would be capable of such abuse. She may therefore have attributed any pain or injuries to other causes. It is difficult to recognize deliberate violence when it lies beyond one’s own imagination and there are no memories of it.

How terrifying must the accused’s background be—that he essentially turned into a monster?
As unusual as it may sound, his background need not be marked by severe trauma or his own experiences of violence. People who inflict such violence on others were not necessarily victims themselves beforehand.

Content that glorifies violence and sexually explicit material is more readily available today. In people with a predisposition, it can intensify their fantasies.

Patricia Staniek über „Internet-Gefahren“

What, then, could be behind such behavior?
This cannot be diagnosed without a comprehensive psychiatric or sexual medical evaluation. However, such behavior does not necessarily stem from a personality disorder or another mental illness. If the allegations are confirmed, pronounced sadistic tendencies or a paraphilic disorder, among other factors, could play a role. An unusual sexual preference is not automatically considered a mental illness. The decisive factor is whether it causes psychological distress, leads to a loss of control, or harms other people and violates their boundaries and autonomy. Most people do not act on even problematic fantasies because moral inhibitions, empathy, and an awareness of the consequences set clear boundaries.

Nevertheless, it seems as though more and more people are crossing these boundaries... 
Content that glorifies violence and is sexually extreme is more readily available today. For people with a predisposition, it can intensify fantasies, promote habituation, and encourage the search for increasingly extreme stimuli. However, one must not infer a simple cause-and-effect relationship from this: Consuming such content alone does not turn anyone into a perpetrator. What matters is whether a person controls their fantasies and respects the dignity, physical integrity, and consent of others.