The Romanian was tried in Graz for attempted murder, after he tried to strangle the man with whom his ex-girlfriend had just started a relationship, in October 2023.
The Romanian was working as a harvest helper in Puch, near Weiz, at the time of the attack. From there she called her ex-boyfriend, who was in the country, and told him she had met another man and wanted them to break up. But the Romanian did not want to accept this: he got into a taxi, went to Styria, in a journey of more than 7 hours for which he paid 900 euros.
According to his own statements, he drank whiskey on the way and bought a “knife like a dagger” from the taxi driver.
With this weapon in hand he went to the place where the harvest workers lived, also Romanians, but he put the knife down before a physical altercation broke out between him and the one he considered a rival. When the woman tried to intervene, she was hit and fell to the ground. Her new boyfriend knelt down next to her, and the 31-year-old took the opportunity to grab his belt and strangle the victim with it. Other workers also intervened, immobilizing the attacker, and he was accused of attempted murder.
In court he said he never wanted to kill his rival. He only hoped that he could convince the woman to return to Romania with him. “I didn’t threaten anyone,” he declared. However, in the statement given to the police at the time of his arrest, he had admitted: “I wanted to take revenge.”
When the judge wanted to know why he had a knife with him, he replied: “I thought when he saw it, maybe he would come home with me sooner.”
In the end, the jury found that it was not attempted murder, but rather attempted grievous bodily harm with intent. Verdict: two and a half years in prison, the convict can appeal.
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