Vienna court considers detention after opera singer stabbing

A Vienna court is hearing a case over the 2013 stabbing of an opera singer, with prosecutors seeking the accused man’s placement in a forensic-therapeutic centre rather than a trial for attempted murder. ORF reported that the 41-year-old is alleged to have attacked the singer outside the Justice Ministry.

The singer was injured near his left rib cage on May 9, 2013. The knife damaged his spleen and caused bleeding into his abdominal cavity. Prosecutors believe the attacker intended to kill him.

A psychiatric assessment found that the accused had paranoid schizophrenia at the time and was not criminally responsible. Prosecutors have applied under section 21(1) of the Criminal Code for his placement in a forensic-therapeutic centre.

Police identified the man after he went to them on December 31, 2025, and submitted a written statement claiming he had committed several serious crimes, including the stabbing. His lawyer, Daniel Strauss, says the statement contains no information that had not already appeared in newspapers and argues there is no proof his client was the attacker.

Strauss also pointed to passages in the statement in which the accused said he was being watched by the US intelligence service, monitored by “crystalline beings” and filmed by cameras while showering. The lawyer said a DNA sample taken from the outside of the victim’s jacket in spring 2013, believed to have come from the attacker, was not tested against his client’s genetic profile.

The hearing is scheduled for one day. Prosecutors say the man could commit another serious offence under the influence of his mental illness if he is not placed in a supervised setting with continuous treatment.