It was the number one topic of conversation in Burgenland for several months: after a club party, family patriarch Jürgen T. (42) from Schettendorf was involved in a fight in front of a local discotheque. He died in a hospital a few days later, and the family’s life was ruined shortly before Christmas.
Police have arrested a Syrian (18) on suspicion of murder. On that fateful night, he got into an argument with Jurgen T. and beat him severely. He was later released from custody as was a suspected accomplice (16).
The Syrian from the district, a trained martial artist, admitted to throwing punches but spoke of a “self-defense situation.” Accordingly, the father of the family initially attacked him. Apparently they got into an argument because of a girl whom Jürgen T. had known since childhood and with whom he had been talking that evening. The Syrian may have attacked out of jealousy. Two young people, to whom the presumption of innocence applies, were released from custody in January in exchange for more lenient measures. They had to swear that they would make no attempts to complicate the investigation, that they would remain at a fixed location and resume their work activities.
Both will have to answer before the regional court in Eisenstadt on Tuesday. However, only for the deliberate attempt to cause grievous bodily harm. It was not enough to charge him with murder or grievous bodily harm resulting in death. The autopsy found that the father of the family had died as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage following the rupture of an aneurysm. However, it could not be determined definitively whether this brain hemorrhage was caused by the beating or not.
The penalty for intentionally attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (§§ 15.87 StGB) is one to ten years in prison. However, intention must be established beyond doubt, which may be difficult in the present case. Observers expect conditional sentences to be in the lower range for first-time offenders. In any case, it doesn’t seem like an appropriate atonement for the death of a family member.
