A man (56) was sentenced to twelve years in prison on Monday at the Klagenfurt Regional Court for attempted murder. The man was accused of setting fire to an apartment building in Villach last summer in order to kill his ex-girlfriend and her new partner. The verdict is not yet final.
At the start of the trial in March, the Romanian only partially pleaded guilty before the jury presided over by Judge Bernd Lutschounig. He had caused the fire, but had not intended to kill anyone. He had only wanted to scare his ex-partner’s new boyfriend. No one was injured in the fire because it was discovered in time. Three crimes committedAfter less than an hour of deliberation, the jury unanimously decided, by eight votes to zero, that the crime had been attempted murder. Judge Lutschounig justified the sentence by saying that although it had only been an attempt, the fact that three crimes had occurred simultaneously – two attempted murders and one arson – made it even more difficult. The defendant asked for three days to think about it, and the public prosecutor’s office appealed against the sentence.Threatened his new boyfriend with murderOn the evening of August 8, 2023, the 56-year-old visited his ex-partner, who was now living with her new partner, in the apartment. An argument broke out, and the woman’s new partner also testified that the Romanian had then threatened to kill her over the phone.Wanted to scare his “ex”The following night, the 56-year-old bought gasoline from a gas station, said prosecutor Christian Pirker. He had a taxi take him to the house and distributed the gasoline in front of his rival’s apartment door. The fire then broke out – as the defendant stated, the fumes had “accidentally” ignited from his cigarette. He had only wanted to scare his ex’s new boyfriend with the gasoline.The fact that nothing more happened during the fire was only thanks to a neighbor: he had noticed the fire when he wanted to go to the toilet shortly before 4 a.m. If that had happened just a few minutes later, the whole building would have been ablaze, an expert explained in court. Ex-girlfriend does not want to testifyThe defense criticized the fact that the man’s former partner did not want to testify in court despite being summoned several times. The fact that she was afraid of the defendant was a “defensive claim” because, contrary to her statements, she had indeed had good contact with the Romanian.
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