Trial Against Mother After Killing of Four-Year-Old Son in Vienna

The 21-year-old woman was released under less strict conditions after today's hearing. Her lawyer's request was granted. The mentally ill woman, who had been temporarily held in the Josefstadt prison, will now be transferred to a facility specialized in her illness. There, she will receive intensive care, and it will be ensured that she continues to take her medication. The young woman also agreed to ongoing psychotherapeutic treatment.

Placement in Preventive Detention for Mother After Killing of Four-Year-Old Son Requested

The prosecution had applied for the woman's placement in a forensic-therapeutic center in accordance with § 21 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. According to an expert opinion obtained during the investigation by psychiatric expert Sigrun Rossmanith, there was a reason for excluding guilt in the woman. Rossmanith demonstrated an acute polymorphic psychotic disorder with symptoms of schizophrenia in her written report. As a result, the expert believed that the mother was not accountable at the time of the crime, providing a reason for excluding guilt. "The act occurred solely under the influence of this illness," Rossmanith stated at the Gray House during the discussion of her report. The illness had "abruptly" appeared and developed "at a crescendo-like speed." Since her detention, the 21-year-old has been treated with medication and psychotherapy and responds well to the neuroleptics. "The more acute an illness is, the better it is treatable," Rossmanith noted.

21-Year-Old Mother Now "In Very Good Condition" According to Expert

"Her mental state at that time has not been present since February," the expert explained. The 21-year-old is now "well-grounded, therapy-ready, and aware of her illness." The symptoms have "completely regressed," the woman is "stabilized" and in a "very good condition." The neuroleptics - the 21-year-old has been receiving them in the form of a monthly depot injection for some time - have "restored her sense of reality." While Rossmanith initially assumed a "high probability" in her written report that the young woman would commit another punishable act with serious consequences under the significant influence of her mental disorder in the foreseeable future, she did not maintain this opinion during the hearing. She now identified a "very low risk of relapse" based on the current condition. It is "unlikely" that new crimes will occur, even if the woman were to stop taking her medication, Rossmanith said, which visibly surprised the three professional judges.

In response to questions from the judges, Rossmanith reaffirmed her view. The woman is "cured." It is "like with cancer. You say it is cured when it has come to rest." Subsequently, the three professional judges decided to obtain a second psychiatric report ex officio. Another expert is to clarify whether the 21-year-old poses a danger - such a danger is a prerequisite for the woman, classified as not accountable, to be admitted to preventive detention. If such a danger is not present, she would have to be released by the court, as she cannot be held criminally responsible for the child's killing due to lack of culpability.

Mother at Trial: "I Was Not Myself"

"I was not myself. I was completely beside myself," the mother had previously explained to the jury. She thought she had to "save" her child. She had started hallucinating two days before the act and imagined that men she had seen earlier at Reumannplatz would rape her child. When she heard key noises in the apartment on the night of November 17, she panicked and became afraid and "found a knife" in the kitchen, said the young woman: "Panic made fear, fear made panic. I thought I had to protect my child. I had to save my child. I killed my child."

"When I saw my child dead, I wanted to die too. I pointed the knife at my neck," the 21-year-old stated in response to the question of what happened next. Her husband "saved her life" and "took the knife away." Then the husband notified the police and the rescue services. For the four-year-old boy, any help came too late. The mother was taken to a hospital, and thanks to an emergency operation, she survived the injuries she had inflicted on herself.

Husband Had Visited Hospital with Wife

The husband of the 21-year-old had visited a Vienna hospital with his wife three days before the act because he and the wife's employer - she had worked as a kindergarten assistant in an institution - were concerned about her mental state. The woman was examined by a doctor at the hospital, but her acute psychotic state was not recognized. She was also not psychiatrically examined. The doctor assumed it was depression, gave the woman a mild remedy for the symptoms, and sent the couple back home. As the husband reported as a witness, the general practitioner did not find it necessary "for my wife to be seen by a psychiatrist." He had asked for this twice at the hospital because his wife had developed delusions. "If she had referred us, this probably wouldn't have happened," the man said.

On the night of Sunday, the father then lay down next to his son in bed. He actually wanted to stay awake because his wife scared him by claiming that gas was entering the apartment. "Tragically, he fell asleep around 3:00 a.m.," reported the prosecutor. In the morning, he woke up due to noises: the mother had slit the four-year-old's throat with a deep cut. The father pushed her away from the boy, whereupon the woman screamed, "Let me, he shouldn't suffer." Until a few days before, the woman had led "a harmonious family life" with her husband and their only child, the prosecutor outlined. Then she suddenly appeared disoriented and confused, became aggressive, and entered an acute psychosis. "Until then, she was a model mother. Her child was her everything," emphasized the defense attorney. Her husband stands "unwaveringly by his wife's side and wants to continue the relationship" despite the loss of his son.

(APA/Red)

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