Murder Charge After Death of Boy in Tyrol

In the case of a three-year-old boy who died in May 2024 due to severe malnutrition in the Tyrolean district of Kufstein, the Innsbruck public prosecutor's office has filed murder charges against the parents. The 27-year-old parents are also accused of deprivation of liberty, the authority announced on Tuesday. They are alleged to have tortured their son to death. They face life imprisonment. The charges can be contested within 14 days and were therefore initially not legally binding.

No Trial Date Yet

A trial date before the jury court has not yet been set. According to the public prosecutor's office, both parents had recently confessed. However, the mother "explained" the acts with a supposedly residing demon in the boy. The father stated that he regretted the acts. According to a psychiatric expert report, both had a personality disorder with sadistic traits, but they were deemed accountable. Due to the identified renewed danger of a similar act, the public prosecutor's office ordered the mother to be placed in a forensic-therapeutic center.

The parents are accused in the indictment of the most cruel mental and physical abuse of their son over several months. They allegedly intended to bring about the son's death as painfully as possible. The accused are said to have discussed the acts in chats and documented them with photos and videos. According to the indictment, the parents encouraged each other that the boy should be "destroyed." Before his death, the three-year-old weighed only seven kilograms at a height of 94 centimeters. This was not even half the expected weight of a boy of that age, it was said.

To prevent the parents of the accused father - the boy's grandparents - from becoming suspicious, he continued to visit his parents with the remaining three siblings. When asked about the whereabouts of the grandson, excuses were made to the grandparents.

Father Notified Police

The boy was found dead in his bed on May 19, 2024, after which the father notified the police. An autopsy eventually revealed that the three-year-old had starved to death. After the parents had been in a hospital due to a psychological exceptional state, they were arrested. They were placed in pre-trial detention. The siblings - all girls - aged one, three, and six years showed no signs of deficiency. The family had also not previously been conspicuous to authorities. The boy's sisters have now been placed with foster families.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.