Gerhard Winkler, head of the investigation department at the Vienna State Criminal Police Office, said this at a press conference on Friday. Accordingly, the 45-year-old compatriot had to die in November because of a financial motive. The investigators were very lucky when it came to the murder weapon: it – a hammer – was seized.
Image: (APA/EVA MANHART)
The starting point was that on January 13th, a fisherman fished a severed left foot out of the Marchfeld Canal between the Schwarzlackenau and Strebersdorf and immediately alerted the police. “It was immediately clear to us that this was a capital crime and we began investigating immediately,” said Winkler.
On the one hand, a search was carried out for further body parts, which were also found in cooperation with the water police and police divers. On the other hand, the investigators checked the missing person cases.
Video: Body in the Marchfeld Canal – Comprehensive confession from suspect:
The phone call with my mother was the last clue
A 45-year-old Iranian man, whose ex-wife and family had reported him missing on November 15 of the previous year, soon emerged as a possible victim. The DNA comparison confirmed the victim’s identity. “It was also the absconder who we classified as extremely questionable in our investigation,” explained the criminalist. The 45-year-old had disappeared without a trace; a video call with his mother in Iran on November 15th at 4 p.m. was the last contact.
Investigators initially targeted several suspects, said Winkler. However, the surveys soon focused on the 38-year-old Iranian, who had also lived in Vienna for years.
Fake messages to family
“There were essentially three suspicions once morest him,” explained Winkler. Initially there were flows of money from the victim to the man. The two had been friends for years. The suspect also tried to downplay or gloss over the 45-year-old’s disappearance to the family. He may also have sent messages to the family using the dead man’s cell phone, which the relatives identified as incorrect, not least because of the special nature of the wording.
