86-year-old convicted of attempted murder in Salzburg, sentenced to four years

An 86-year-old pensioner in Salzburg has been sentenced to four years in prison for attempted murder, with an extraordinary reduction in sentence. The court found that she had attempted to kill her 61-year-old daughter, who has severe intellectual disabilities, by administering a potentially fatal dose of sleeping pills on October 25, 2025.

During the trial, the Salzburg resident testified that her motive was to prevent her daughter from being placed in a nursing home. She also intended to take her own life. The woman's husband, who is also the daughter's father, found both women alive and alerted emergency services. The 86-year-old, who had no prior criminal record, was taken into custody and is being held in a geriatric ward of a specialized clinic.

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I said that is out of the question.

The accused explained to the presiding judge that she disagreed with her son's plan, as he already had custody of the 61-year-old, to move her daughter into a care facility. Both the father and son apparently sought to relieve the elderly woman of her caregiving duties. The accused expressed fears that her daughter would be unhappy in a nursing home, forced to do things she disliked, stating, "I said that is out of the question."

She further elaborated that her daughter, unable to read or write beyond her first name and incapable of making decisions, would not want to go to a nursing home. The accused believed the quantity of sleeping pills she administered to her daughter and took herself would be sufficient to end both their lives. The prosecutor stated that 15 tablets of the sedative "Halcion" were given to each woman, emphasizing that the accused was aware of her actions and mentally competent at the time of the offense. The daughter's severe intellectual disability meant she could not recognize the dangers of the medication.

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The accused knew what she was doing. She was mentally competent at the time of the offense.