Court case against Samuel in Pezinok: voice messages revealed praise for Prague massacre
Voice messages from the accused Samuel were heard at the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok, in which he praised an attack at Prague's Faculty of Philosophy. The defendant also spoke in court about his motivation for murder.
Voice messages revealed Samuel's words about Prague massacre
On Monday 31 August, proceedings continued at the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok in the case of an attack at a secondary school in Spišská Stará Ves in Kežmarok district. As reported by Nový Čas, the panel rejected the playing of telephone calls that Samuel made during his stay in a prison for convicted persons in Trenčín. Instead, the court admitted listening to voice messages from the social network Instagram.
Recordings were heard from the speakers that could play an important role in the evidence. Samuel listened to them in silence. In messages sent to close friends before the fateful day in Spišská Stará Ves, the defendant openly praised the attack on the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University in Prague on 21 December 2023, in which 14 people died and a further 25 were injured. Attacker David Kozák committed suicide after the shooting.
"They are, God, so quiet. Such tut-tut-tut... Prague needs to be repeated," was heard from the recording. Based on context, Samuel appeared to be speaking about classmates he was angry with.
"The method would be limb for limb"
In further voice messages, Samuel described what he could imagine doing to his classmates. "I would have fun with them. Left them maimed and left them like that. I would have enjoyed it. The method would be limb for limb, finger for finger," was heard from the recording.
In one of the messages, he attacked later murdered classmate Alena, whom he called a "disgusting manipulator" and complained about her behaviour. "On one hand, she's okay to attract a person, and then she starts behaving disgustingly," he stated in the message. He also reacted to alleged fear some girls at school had of him. "When there's real fear, there should be a real threat too," he stated in the voice message.
Why he killed the deputy headmaster
After the recordings were played, Samuel faced questions from the prosecutor. When asked the opening question — why did you kill the deputy headmaster — he answered directly.
"She was arrogant, so I committed the act that I confessed to. I wanted to talk to the deputy headmaster about why she called my parents to school. I cannot specifically recall what I told her, but I know she was very unpleasant," testified the 19-year-old defendant.
According to his words, he wanted nothing else from the deputy headmaster except an explanation. "She basically gave me no answer," he stated before the court. He described the deputy headmaster's behaviour as a long-standing pattern. "It wasn't the first day she was unpleasant to me. I always tried to be polite to her. I didn't like how she was handling everything. She didn't want to listen to me at all. She pushed me away," was heard in his testimony. At the same time, he himself admitted that he was not sure whether this could be described as a motive. "But I'm not sure if this can be classified as a motive," he said.
Knife purchased at army shop, originally intended for self-harm
During questioning, the subject of the knife came up. Samuel stated that he bought it at an army shop in Poprad. According to his testimony, however, he had not originally planned to use it for an attack. "I bought it for the purpose of self-harm due to the court case in Kežmarok. Specifically, I wanted to kill myself," the defendant said.
When asked why he headed for the first floor of the school, he answered that he had not thought about it. "I didn't think about it. I don't want to make things up now. When I entered the classroom, I couldn't recognise the faces of my classmates. Only when I bent over her did I recognise that it was Alena," he described before the court.
Relationship with Alena: from first friendly gesture to tragedy
The court also heard about Samuel's relationship with the later murdered classmate. According to his words, it was Alena who was the only one to ask him how he liked his new school when he started at the secondary school in Spišská Stará Ves. "So I began seeking her company," he described.
However, according to his words, problems gradually began to arise between them. Samuel claims that even before switching to an individual study plan, he noticed that something was not right. When he switched to an individual plan, he wrote her a message. "When I went on an individual study plan, I wrote to her that I was in love with her. I would never have harmed her," Samuel said. Today, according to his own words, he regrets that their paths ever crossed.
When asked further questions by the prosecutor, the defendant refused to answer. Samuel is charged with double murder — of the deputy headmaster of the secondary school and his classmate Alena — in the attack in Spišská Stará Ves.
Source: Nový Čas