Vienna man charged with murder after strangling friend and hiding body for weeks

The Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office has filed a murder charge against a 36-year-old man accused of killing his 41-year-old friend in the Penzing district. According to the indictment, the fatal encounter began after a heated argument over a tipped vodka bottle, during which the victim struck the suspect with an empty beer bottle, prompting the suspect to retaliate with another beer bottle and then choke the victim until he stopped moving.

The body was wrapped in plastic foil and hidden under the suspect’s bed for weeks, where it decomposed and emitted a strong odor that alerted neighbours. A forensic examination determined that death resulted from sustained neck compression, and also identified cut injuries to the neck that could have been inflicted post-mortem, while a broken knife fragment was seized at the location. The indictment requests that, if convicted, the defendant be placed in a forensic-therapeutic facility, noting his severe substance-use history and a diagnosed personality disorder that reduced, but did not eliminate, his criminal responsibility.