The woman’s partner was initially arrested and taken to a prison, but released on Thursday, as the spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office, Nina Bussek, announced on APA request. There was no urgent suspicion. “But the investigations continue,” emphasized Bussek. The suspicion of murder is still pending.
It is possible that it was an accident
In order to take the 53-year-old into custody, the existence of an urgent suspicion would be required. The evidence available so far, especially the preliminary autopsy result, would not be sufficient, said Bussek: “One cannot currently rule out that it was an accident that the woman fell”. For the time being there is no evidence that a violent attack was the cause of death. Therefore, no application was made to the regional court for criminal matters to impose pre-trial detention.
The 53-year-old wrote his mother a text message on Tuesday evening that his partner was no longer moving. The mother then called the police. Officers from the Ottakring city police command drove to the apartment on Gablenzgasse at 9:15 p.m., where the man opened the door for them. The emergency services began with resuscitation measures and informed the Viennese professional rescue service. A doctor might finally only determine the death of the woman.
The officers arrested the partner of the deceased “due to the questionable situation in which they were found and the victim’s injuries,” explained police spokesman Daniel Fürst. An alcohol test carried out in the apartment showed that the suspect was drunk, so that an interrogation was only possible at a later date. The woman may also have consumed alcohol that evening.
The 53-year-old did not confess to the police questioning, the police reported in a broadcast two days following the incident. The Vienna State Criminal Police Office is still conducting further investigations, including the question of whether the injuries might also have come from an accident.
