Austrian court convicts man whose girlfriend died as they climbed mountain
ABC News
An Austrian court has convicted a man of manslaughter caused by gross negligence after his girlfriend froze to death as the couple attempted to climb the country’s highest peak last year
VIENNA -- An Austrian court has convicted a man of manslaughter caused by gross negligence after his girlfriend froze to death as the couple attempted to climb the country's highest peak last year.
The 37-year-old defendant was given a five-month suspended sentence and a 9,600-euro ($11,300) fine in a verdict handed down by the Innsbruck state court Thursday night after a one-day trial, the Austria Press Agency reported. The court did not identify him, in keeping with local privacy rules.
The man and his 33-year-old girlfriend set out to climb the Grossglockner in western Austria in January 2025. Prosecutors said that she died about 50 meters (164 feet) below the 3,798-meter (12,460-foot) peak after he left her behind. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Judge Norbert Hofer said that the defendant had misjudged the situation on the mountain but had not wilfully left behind his girlfriend — whose knowledge of mountaineering, he said, was “galaxies” short of the man's own. The sentence was well short of the maximum three years in prison.
“I don't see you as a murderer, I don't see you as a cold-hearted man,” he said, alluding to social media posts about the case. “I see you as the one who ultimately tried to call help and stand by his girlfriend.”
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