Etela (62) from Hodejov given 25 years for murder with axe – it was not her first victim
The district court in Banská Bystrica has sentenced a 62-year-old woman to 25 years for the murder of her partner Rudolf (†56). In 1996 she was convicted of killing her own husband.
Twofold murderer from Hodejov: 25 years for axe blow to partner's head
The district court in Banská Bystrica has issued a final verdict against 62-year-old Etela from Hodejov – 25 years of imprisonment for the particularly grave crime of murder. As Nový Čas reports, she was led from the courtroom in handcuffs. This was not her first such act.
The court found no mitigating circumstances in the case. Etela continued to dispute her guilt, but testimony from witnesses and expert reports confirming her aggressive behaviour convicted her.
Fatal day in the summer kitchen
The tragedy occurred on 16 April of the previous year, several days before Easter, in a house in Hodejov. Etela and Rudolf had been partners for approximately fifteen years, but had separated about a year and a half before the murder – according to Etela, because of Rudolf's excessive drinking. "When he drank, he was mean; when he didn't drink, he was calm," she testified before the investigator. Despite their separation, they continued to meet in the summer kitchen of the house.
On the day of the incident, Rudolf came home around two in the afternoon, intoxicated, bringing alcohol from a neighbour and purchasing half a litre of borovička. A mutual acquaintance, František, was also present. The three drank for about an hour; Etela also admitted that she drank three half-decilitres.
The situation escalated when František lost his balance and fell to the ground. When trying to go out into the yard, Etela tripped over his leg. Rudolf allegedly grabbed her by the hair at that moment, which according to her testimony sparked an argument about money. Etela leaned over him and hit him in the face. However, the conflict did not end there: she took an axe and struck Rudolf in the head multiple times. He succumbed to the devastating injuries on the spot.
Admitted and convicted
When Etela came to her senses, she saw blood on his forehead. She went outside and asked the first passer-by to call the police. She immediately confessed to the arriving officers. "She says to call the police, that she killed him," one of the neighbours described the situation.
Sentence from 1996 for husband's murder
Residents of Hodejov reacted to the event with horror all the greater because Etela had previous criminal records. In 1996 she was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for the murder of her own husband. Although she confirmed this herself, she continues to deny it to this day and claims that her former boyfriend killed her husband and that she does not even know exactly how he died.
After serving her sentence, she returned home to Hodejov. "We did not expect this to happen again, that she could do it again," said one of the neighbours following the April tragedy. The murder was committed in a house belonging to her son, who has been living permanently in Germany. Several witnesses stated that her son avoids contact with his mother.
Source: Nový Čas