Update – September 15
A 28-year-old man suspected of killing two women on Monday has given a full confession of double murder in Vienna. He admitted to stabbing his ex-wife in a fight about text messages, as well as an acquaintance who arrived on the scene later.
According to the police, he also planned to kill another person. However, the man escaped because of the highly intoxicated state of the attacker.
The suspect said that on Monday morning, he and his 37-year-old ex-wife started a discussion about SMS messages in her kitchen. He went to the kitchen for a rolling pin and beat the woman with it, then stabbed her with a knife. Police could not confirm if the motive was jealousy, as the man did not mention it at the interrogation said police spokesman Mohamed Ibrahim.
The man then waited in the apartment for the second victim to arrive, a 35-year-old friend of his ex-wife. “He knew that the woman often came around midday to visit or for lunch”, said Ibrahim. Since the divorce, the suspect had not had a good relationship with the 35-year-old.
He drank alcohol until she arrived, and then attacked her with the knife.
He then contacted a 36-year-old man, asking to meet outside the apartment. It was not clear yet if this was the author of the text messages to the ex-wife, said police. The man managed to escape from the attacker.
The suspect’s four-year-old daughter, who was in kindergarten at the time of the attack was taken to a crisis center for children and adolescents in Vienna.
The man was previously charged twice, once with a sexual crime. In both cases, a trial was started to remove his asylum status – the suspect originally came from Somalia – but each time it was stopped as both charges were dropped.
Both women were actively campaigning against sexual violence and violence against women. A group of NGOs and individuals has set up a donation page, covering the costs for the funeral and providing support for their families, among them a young child.
The page says (in Arabic & German):
inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un – Verily, we belong to God and verily, to Him we return.
Our friends Shugri Ahmed Abtidoon and Fadumo Hirsi were brutally snatched from us on 13/09/2021.
We are heartbroken – we have known them both for a very long time. Fadumo Hirsi has been at the forefront of advocating for victims of gender-based violence and has now had to pay for it with her life. When Fadumo defended her friend Shugri from her brutal ex-husband, she washerself a victim of gender-based violence.
Fadumo tirelessly stood up for other women, defending them, translating for them, and helping them find help from the authorities. She accompanied them to institutions that help women affected by violence.
Shugri leaves behind a young child. This fills us all with great pain.
Dear Shugri, dear Fadumo, from our lives you have gone, but in our hearts you will remain.
May you find a home in paradise.
We have set this up for anyone who would like to contribute to the funeral expenses and financial support for the families.
Thank you all for all the love and support during this difficult time.
Original News from September 14
A 28-year-old man is suspected of murdering two women in Vienna in the tenth district (Favoriten). According to police reports, officers were called to a dispute settlement on Monday afternoon. They met the man who claimed to have killed two women in an apartment.
Police found the two victims, aged 35 and 37, on the floor of the apartment around 4 pm on Monday, September 13. The suspect was arrested.
According to newspaper reports, the two women were stabbed to death. The murder weapon, a knife, was secured.
Initial investigation reports stated that the suspect had a 2.2 percent blood alcohol level at the time of the arrest. The suspect was so intoxicated, according to the report, that questioning was not initially possible. As a result, police had little information to give to the media.
According to neighbors, one of the victims was the man’s ex-wife, with whom he had a four-year-old daughter. The girl was in Kindergarten at the time of the incident, and she was collected by social services. The second victim was the new girlfriend of the suspect, who was often in the apartment in the tenth district to eat and to pray.
The man was previously charged twice, once with a sexual crime. In both cases, a trial was started to remove his asylum status – the suspect originally came from Somalia, like both of the victims – but each time it was stopped as both charges were dropped.
If you or anyone you know experiences or fears domestic violence, here you can get help and support. You can also call 057722 to get support in German, English, French, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Turkish and Russian.
Reported in cooperation with the Austrian Press Agency / APA.
