Because he killed his 83-year-old mother with a dumbbell in February of this year, a 58-year-old was finally admitted to an institution for mentally abnormal offenders at the Vienna Regional Court on Wednesday. The man suffers from a psychotic depression, which is why he cannot be held responsible for his actions.
The trained precision mechanic had not had any psychological problems until the previous year. It was only after his brother’s suicide that he suffered from depression and also sought appropriate treatment. According to the psychiatric expert, like the identical twin brother, it is likely that a genetic component played a role in the onset of the disease. The 58-year-old was suddenly unable to cope with daily life and had to rely on his elderly mother for support .Death after brain haemorrhageOn February 16 of this year, the man screwed a weight plate onto the side of a dumbbell and hit the elderly woman twice in the back of the head. He then called 911, admitted the attack and asked for medical help for the 83-year-old. But the pensioner died a few days later from a brain hemorrhage. Even in the hearing, chaired by Judge Thomas Spreitzer, the patient could not give any real motive for the crime. The 58-year-old was also unable to explain exactly whether and why he was sorry. Closed institution “the only option” This lack of emotions corresponds to the clinical picture of psychotic depression, explained the expert Peter Hofmann. Although the accused is responding well to the newly started therapies, he is still dangerous. “He can do extremely dangerous things that he cannot control.” In his opinion, a closed institution is “currently the best and only option”. The jury and the judges’ panel also agreed with this view. The 58-year-old accepted the verdict, as did the public prosecutor, which is why the briefing is already final.
source site-12