The 2022 Mariahilf Mother-and-Daughter Murders

During the night leading into August 4, 2022, a 32-year-old woman and her teenage daughter were killed in an apartment on Mollardgasse in Vienna-Mariahilf. The woman's 49-year-old partner left Austria after the killings. The case moved quickly from a local homicide investigation to an international manhunt, extradition and, six months later, a final murder conviction.

The victims and the surviving children

Austrian news organizations generally withheld the victims' full names, and this file follows that approach. The older victim was 32 and had several children. Her teenage daughter was also killed in the apartment. Later trial reporting consistently described the girl as 14; some early reporting described her as 15 or nearly 15. Rather than choose a false precision, the discrepancy is preserved here as a reporting difference.

Two younger boys, aged seven and nine in contemporary reports, remained in the home until the next morning. They later went alone to a doctor's office. When the doctor could not reach their mother, police were alerted. Officers returned with the children to the apartment and discovered the two victims.

Investigation and flight to France

Investigators focused on the mother's partner, a 49-year-old man. He had left Austria after the killings and was sought internationally. Austrian federal investigators traced him to France, where he was arrested on September 13, 2022, near Brest. He was extradited to Austria and held in Vienna pending prosecution.

In February 2023, prosecutors charged him with two counts of murder. A court-ordered psychiatric assessment found him criminally responsible at the time of the offenses. He had largely exercised his right to remain silent during the pretrial investigation.

Trial and confession

The trial opened at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court on February 15, 2023. The defendant initially offered an alternative account concerning the older victim's death and denied a deliberate double killing. During the proceedings, after evidence including a recorded statement from one of the surviving children was presented, he changed his position and stated that he was guilty of the double murder.

The eight-member jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment. Austrian reporting noted that the defendant accepted the judgment and the prosecutor waived an appeal. The conviction and sentence therefore became final immediately.

Why the case is classified as final

The distinction between a trial verdict and a final judgment matters for Crime by Region. Here, the authoritative post-trial reporting is unusually clear: there was no outstanding appeal after the sentencing hearing. The defendant accepted the judgment and the prosecution waived its right to challenge it. This file therefore uses the status Solved / Final conviction.

Timeline

1. August 4, 2022
   Mother and daughter are killed

   A 32-year-old woman and her teenage daughter are killed in their Mariahilf apartment.

2. August 5, 2022
   Police discover the victims

   After the woman's younger sons go to a doctor alone and their mother cannot be contacted, police enter the apartment and find the two victims.

3. September 13, 2022
   Suspect arrested in France

   Austrian investigators trace the mother's partner to the Brest area, where French authorities arrest him.

4. February 2, 2023
   Double-murder charge announced

   Vienna prosecutors confirm the indictment following extradition and pretrial investigation.

5. February 15, 2023
   Unanimous conviction and life sentence

   The defendant admits the double murder during trial. Jurors convict him unanimously and the court imposes life imprisonment.

6. February 15, 2023
   Judgment becomes final

   The defendant accepts the verdict and the prosecution waives appeal, making the sentence final.

Current status

The double-murder conviction is final. The defendant is serving a life sentence. No unresolved perpetrator question remains in the criminal case presented here.