Surveillance camera captured fatal attack at Garsten prison centre

ORF reports that a surveillance camera captured the fatal attack on a 40-year-old inmate at the Forensic Therapeutic Centre in Garsten. A 63-year-old inmate allegedly stabbed the man in the upper body with a knife or knife-like object.

The attack took place at about 3 p.m. on Monday in a prison corridor. The camera recorded the incident without sound and showed the 40-year-old collapsing after the stabbing.

Prison officers are believed to have heard screams and rushed to help. Two or three officers arrived moments later and immediately began resuscitation efforts, but they were unsuccessful.

The Justice Ministry confirmed the inmate’s death on Monday evening. The Steyr public prosecutor’s office is investigating the 63-year-old on suspicion of murder. According to investigators, he has not yet been questioned.

The suspect is reportedly the Tunisian man who killed an 85-year-old man and his 87-year-old wife in Linz-Urfahr in 2017 and then set fire to their home. He surrendered shortly after the killings and said he wanted to make an example of society and the Freedom Party, which he felt had discriminated against him as a foreigner and Muslim. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Both the victim and the suspect were being held under measures for people considered dangerous because of mental disorders. The Justice Ministry said therapeutic measures accompanying their detention had been ordered for both men.

Public Advocate Gabriela Schwarz, who is responsible for the prison system, said she was shocked by the incident and again pointed to staffing and medical provision problems at the centre. She said the Ombudsman’s Office had been highlighting a shortage of specialist staff for years. The Upper Austria State Criminal Police Office is investigating, and the Justice Ministry has promised a comprehensive review.