Overview
- A court placed Patrick M. in pretrial detention on December 1 after he initially confessed to strangling his ex-partner and transporting her body to Slovenia in a suitcase.
- At the custody hearing he presented an accident version of events and, for the first time, referred to a stabbing weapon, according to multiple reports.
- Defense attorney Astrid Wagner says he admits causing the death and will seek a manslaughter plea, a framing criticized by advocates who reject jealousy as a form of love.
- Police report that no weapon has been recovered and that autopsy results are pending to clarify the exact cause and manner of death.
- He was arrested after his car was found burned in Slovenia and extradited to Austria; his brother and stepfather were briefly detained on suspicion of obstruction and later released.