Prosecutors examine suspect’s responsibility in Langenzersdorf killing

ORF reported Monday that prosecutors are examining whether an 18-year-old suspect was criminally responsible when a 29-year-old Viennese man was killed in Langenzersdorf in the Korneuburg district.

The Korneuburg Public Prosecutor’s Office has commissioned a chemical analysis of blood and urine samples, as well as a psychiatric assessment of the suspect, spokesman Josef Mechtler said. The suspect’s lawyer, Astrid Wagner, said he had been under the influence of drugs, including what she described as a large amount of ecstasy. She said his criminal responsibility may have been suspended and described the killing as an exceptional act resulting from drug use.

Investigators are still examining the motive. One possibility is a hate crime based on the suspect’s belief that the victim was homosexual.

Autopsy found severe injuries to the neck

Police said the 18-year-old had confessed during questioning at the State Criminal Police Office. A preliminary autopsy found severe force had been applied to the victim’s neck, along with blunt-force injuries to the head, chest and abdomen, the prosecutor’s office said.

There is currently no evidence of possible accomplices, Mechtler said.

The suspect, who is from the Korneuburg district, is believed to have belonged to the so-called pedo-hunter scene. According to the report, the group mainly falsely accuses homosexual people of paedophilia and uses violence against them.

The Korneuburg Regional Court ordered the suspect to be held in pre-trial detention on Saturday.