The defendant initially pleaded not guilty. While the prosecution presented evidence to the contrary, the defense might only see “indications.” Expert reports, however, incriminated the man.
The 39-year-old appeared emotionally shaken at the beginning of his questioning before Judge Andreas Fleckl – following all, he was faced with a “serious accusation”. When the judge asked him to describe the events of that night, he burst into tears. His son was restless on the rainy night, as he often was, so he went for a “walk” as usual. His last memory was “a lightning bolt in the head”, he said, of an alleged robbery and the subsequent fainting.
Video: Start of the trial with great public interest
During his questioning in the hospital, he told the officers regarding a conspicuous man wearing a hoodie. He had come “out of the dark”. In the hospital, he “panic” rose up in him because he was afraid that his son, who felt strongly attracted to water, might have fallen into the river. At that point, the boy had not yet been found. He was discovered dead on a sandbank a short time later.
“I had no motive”
“First and foremost, I’m a dad,” the defendant said at the start of a second interview in the followingnoon. The German described in detail the many efforts he made to help his son because of his genetic defect. However, decisive progress had been made on several levels in the course of 2022. “There are many six-year-olds who are more difficult to handle than him,” the 39-year-old described the current situation. The childcare situation was recently “the best we’ve ever had,” the man said, denying that the kindergarten place was not a motive. He said that people had also recently been optimistic regarding research and future prospects for a cure. “I was looking forward to the future with great anticipation,” the defendant assured: “I had no motive to do something like that to my child.”
“A great asset”
Burying his son was “the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life.” He needed psychological help immediately and was “at the end of his rope on every level.” “My son was one of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing,” said the defendant, crying. He valued life much more than others. “He celebrated every single snowflake,” he recalled. “That is not only a burden, but also a great enrichment for a family.” “I simply had so much planned for him,” he said. The loss is still incomprehensible. It is also “unbearable” that the person actually responsible for it is still at large.
Report incriminates father
The report by forensic doctor Walter Rabl, however, incriminated the defendant. The 39-year-old had a small laceration on the back of his head and some abrasions on his face. “The injury is not consistent with the long period of unconsciousness. Usually there is no unconsciousness at all,” Rabl stated in court. “A powerful blow with a bottle would cause other injuries,” said the experienced expert, referring to the murder weapon in the room. The defense asked regarding a second injury on the back of his head that might have led to unconsciousness. Rabl denied this and spoke instead of a “test blow.”
Psychiatric expert Gabriele Wörgötter also found that a long period of unconsciousness might not be explained from a neurological point of view; there was no “objective reason” for it. The expert ruled out a combination of a blow and fatigue, as suggested by an expert called in by the defense. However, she confirmed that the defendant was mentally healthy.
Champagne bottle as murder weapon?
Public prosecutor Joachim Wüstner had previously shown himself clearly convinced of the defendant’s guilt in his opening statement and referred to reports from forensic medicine and psychiatric experts. Video recordings also showed that the murder weapon – a champagne bottle – was in the stroller and that DNA traces from the child were detectable on it. There were no DNA traces from any perpetrator on the defendant’s cell phone or clothing – so this might not be reconciled with the alleged robbery. The cell phone – the latest iPhone at the time – was not stolen, but thrown in a trash can and the pedometer did not record “the robber’s steps”, argued the public prosecutor. The cell phone analysis showed that the man had searched for the word “fainted” shortly before the child’s death.
Wüstner admitted that the father “certainly loved” his child, who had health problems, and “sacrificed himself for years.” When the search for a kindergarten place failed that summer, the 39-year-old asked himself in a message to the mother “how many setbacks one might cope with.” “Perhaps he wanted to redeem his child, perhaps he wanted to redeem his family,” he said.
“Loving relationship”
Defense attorney Mathias Kapferer, on the other hand, emphasized the “loving relationship” between father and child and noted that “there is not a sheet of paper between the couple.” The sick boy had also made considerable progress before his death and his prognosis was good. Care had also been secured and a lack of a kindergarten place might not be a motive.
Overall, there was “no evidence at all” in the case, said Kapferer, who is representing the 39-year-old together with his lawyer Albert Heiss. He criticized the police investigation, saying that broken glass had been “swept up and disposed of by the street sweeper of St. Johann.” The pedometer was “faulty.” In addition, a video of evidence showing an unknown person had not been secured in time. The DNA of a “strange man” had also been discovered on the boy’s clothing, the defense attorney said, referring to private reports. The fact that his client had searched for the term “unconscious” had something to do with a question from his daughter regarding jellyfish.
Robbery or murder?
In the case that caused a great stir, it was originally assumed that the father had been robbed. It looked as if the man had been knocked unconscious and robbed by an unknown person with a bottle on a promenade next to the Ache during the night. The six-year-old is said to have gotten out of the stroller on his own, fallen into the flooded Ache and drowned there. But following months of intensive investigations, during which no hot lead on the alleged robber emerged, the 39-year-old himself became the target and was finally arrested on February 27, 2023. Concrete investigation results are said to be heavily incriminating once morest him.
In view of the considerable scope of the proceedings, three hearing dates have been scheduled for the jury trial. 25 witnesses are to be heard. The hearing will also take place this Thursday and on August 1st. The trial is attracting great media interest. Numerous journalists from all over Austria and Germany followed the proceedings.
This article was last updated at 17:37.
