14-year-old on trial in Vienna for cemetery murder
A 14-year-old is on trial in Vienna for the murder of a 64-year-old lawyer. The prosecution is seeking punishment and psychiatric commitment.
Trial begins in cemetery murder case: 14-year-old charged
A 14-year-old schoolgirl must answer charges of murder before Vienna's court on Wednesday, as reported by on.orf.at. According to the indictment, she killed a 64-year-old lawyer in February at Baumgarten cemetery in the 14th district – a woman who had been visiting her parents' grave.
The victim suffered, according to the indictment, "more than 80 stab and cut wounds, particularly to the head and neck area" and died at the scene. The murder weapon, a folding knife, had been purchased shortly before the attack.
Immediately after the crime, the teenager photographed the body with her mobile phone and sent these images to several people. She then returned to her shared accommodation and called the police herself to confess.
Expert assessment: accountable despite personality disorder
A juvenile psychiatric assessment found the girl suffered from an emotionally unstable personality disorder as well as a conduct disorder. Due to psychological problems, the defendant had previously been admitted to inpatient treatment multiple times. According to the expert assessment, at the time of the crime she was influenced by her disorder, but was accountable – she knew what she was doing.
The Vienna prosecutor's office is seeking a sentence commensurate with her culpability and the offence, as well as placement in a secure forensic therapeutic centre. The assessment explicitly warns of the danger of further homicides against randomly selected victims. The girl is currently held in such a facility in Asten in Upper Austria.
Care gaps under scrutiny
Following disclosure of the case, debate erupted over the intensity of supervision in Vienna's municipal youth shared accommodation facilities. The schoolgirl – a Vienna-born daughter of a deceased Iraqi-Kurdish taxi company owner – lived in the 14th district in a supervised facility run by the City of Vienna and attended school only sporadically. It also emerged that she had regularly obtained strong sedatives from the drug scene in Vienna-Donaustadt. Her mother felt overwhelmed by caring for her daughter.
The teenager is represented in court by lawyer Astrid Wagner. Due to her age, the maximum sentence for the murder charge is up to ten years' imprisonment. The charges will be decided by lay judges and professional judges – not a jury.
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)