Pole: “I’m innocent”

Over an inheritance? 80-year-old woman pushed down basement stairs

Attorney Manfred Arbacher-Stöger (right) represents the victim, who survived the fall down these stairs. The woman had named the Polish man as her sole heir.(Bild: Krone-Collage/Krone, Krone, Krone KREATIV)

The prosecutor is certain in the jury trial in Korneuburg: The victim’s 54-year-old “foster son,” a carpenter from Poland, intended to kill the 80-year-old woman in her home. The man, who denies the crime and claims it was an accident, faces up to life in prison.

What happened on December 10, 2025, at the victim’s property in Lanzendorf (Lower Austria)? The prosecutor is convinced that on that evening, the accused Polish man pushed the 80-year-old homeowner down the basement stairs and slashed her throat with a shard of glass: attempted murder!

The defendant claims that the elderly woman fell down the stairs and cut herself on shards of glass from a broken wine bottle...

The history of the case is extraordinary. The alleged motive, however, is not: it’s all about money! The trained carpenter had been like a son to the G. couple for 20 years and even had a key to their house.

Defendant Was Supposed to Help Finance the Victim’s New Home
When the husband died in 2023, the defendant knew that he would be the sole heir upon the wife’s death. But in 2025, things got complicated: The 80-year-old woman met a man nearly half her age, which irritated the Pole. She also decided to move out of the house, which was too big. The defendant was supposed to contribute significantly to the cost of the new, smaller home: “If you want to inherit everything, then buy me a house or an apartment,” the sprightly woman is said to have told him, according to his defense attorney. He agreed to invest his savings—amounting to 420,000 euros—in Ms. G.’s new home.

He couldn’t wait; he wanted to finally inherit.

Opferanwalt Manfred Arbacher-Stöger

Bild: Anja Richter

“He was afraid of losing the promised inheritance—and the money he had invested,” says the prosecutor. That is why, she says, he lured the woman to the stairs that evening and pushed her down. He is then said to have slashed his severely injured victim’s throat with a wine bottle he had smashed beforehand. The bleeding woman lay on the basement floor for an hour and a half: “She begged for her life; she was afraid for her life.”

“I’ll tell everyone that you fell”
The 54-year-old is said to have threatened her: “I’m going to kill you now and say you fell.” The victim’s attorney, Manfred Arbacher-Stöger, is certain: “He couldn’t wait—he wanted to finally inherit.”

This is a version of events that the Polish man does not confirm during the jury trial at the Korneuburg Regional Court (Lower Austria). He pleads “not guilty.” A verdict is pending—the trial has been adjourned indefinitely.