Vienna court gives man life sentence for strangling friend

A 36-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a friend in Penzing, Vienna, after a dispute, ORF reports. The court said the maximum sentence was unavoidable. The verdict is not final, and the defendant’s lawyer has filed an appeal and a plea of nullity.

The man was also ordered into a forensic therapeutic centre under Section 21(2) of Austria’s Criminal Code. He had wrapped the victim’s body in plastic, covered it with a tarpaulin and left it under his bed for weeks.

The 41-year-old’s body was found on April 3, after neighbours alerted police about the smell of decomposition. Officers forced open the apartment door and searched the rooms with a sniffer dog. The defendant had stopped using the apartment and, by his account, was sleeping in an emergency shelter or on public transport, returning only to collect his mail.

Earlier, the defendant’s father had noticed an unpleasant smell during a visit. When his son refused to let him into the apartment, the father called police, but officers found nothing suspicious, the prosecutor said. On the evening the body was discovered, the defendant returned to the apartment, saw a large police presence and surrendered without resistance.

At trial, the defendant denied intending to kill his friend and said the death was an accident. The two men had known each other for about 10 years and had become friends. The 41-year-old had eventually moved in with the defendant.

The prosecutor said the dispute began when the defendant knocked over a half-full bottle of vodka belonging to his flatmate. The men scuffled and hit each other over the head with empty beer bottles before falling onto the bed. The defendant then strangled the 41-year-old, the prosecutor said.

The defendant told the court he had fallen on the man, with his knee pressing against the other man’s neck. He said he tried heart massage and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but did not call emergency services because he was sure his friend was dead.

A forensic pathologist said the cause of death was compression of the neck following prolonged strangulation. The indictment also noted cuts to the neck and back of the head that may not have been inflicted while the victim was alive. It said an attempt to dismember the body after death could not be ruled out.