Man admits killing estranged wife as trial opens in Wiener Neustadt
Thursday 12th November 2026 on 20:30 in
Austria
A 47-year-old man accused of murdering his estranged wife told a court he had killed her as his trial opened in Wiener Neustadt on Thursday, ORF reported. Prosecutors say he shot the 38-year-old woman three times and stabbed her 40 times.
The defendant has several previous convictions and was conditionally released from his most recent prison sentence only weeks before the alleged killing. The prosecutor raised doubts about his criminal responsibility, citing differing psychiatric assessments. An earlier report found his capacity was essentially intact, while a later assessment diagnosed a delusional disorder and paranoid schizophrenia and described him as not criminally responsible and dangerous.
The woman had separated from him in 2019 after violence, the prosecutor said. She later moved with their four children, now aged between nine and 18, and sought court orders and restrictions to protect herself and the children. The man had been barred from approaching their kindergarten and schools, and disputes allegedly continued over his wish to see the children.
On April 5, the man went to the family home in Sooß, in the district of Baden, carrying Easter presents. The children were not there. According to the indictment, he fired at the woman and then stabbed her with a screwdriver. He told the court he feared she would attack him with a kitchen knife and said he had acted in self-defence.
After the killing, he moved her body into the garden, saying he wanted to keep the children from seeing the blood. A son returned while the man was trying to remove traces of the crime. The father then called police and was arrested without resistance. He had fully confessed during police questioning, according to the report.
Elisabeth Cinatl, head of the Network of Austrian Women’s and Girls’ Counselling Centres, said the period around a separation is the most dangerous time for women. She said many violent men hold patriarchal beliefs that women belong to them.