Two suspects arrested Ukrainian politician's son killed and burned to death in Vienna
A 21-year-old Ukrainian student is found dead in a burning Mercedes in Vienna. The investigation leads to a brawl in a luxury hotel - and a possible crypto motive.
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- A 21-year-old Ukrainian student was found dead in a burning car in Vienna.
- According to Ukrainian media, he is said to be the son of a politician.
- Two suspects, also Ukrainian, fled to their home country after the crime and were arrested there.
On the night of November 26, a Mercedes was on fire in Vienna. After extinguishing the fire, the fire department discovered a body in the back seat.
The victim was a 21-year-old man from the Ukraine who had been studying in Vienna for years. According to the authorities, the autopsy clearly shows that he was killed. "His body was 80 percent burnt", said Colonel Gerhard Winkler from the State Criminal Police Office at a press conference. The forensic experts also found traces of blunt force trauma on his head.
Investigators assume that the young man either suffocated or suffered heat shock. Several Ukrainian media outlets agree that it could be the son of the deputy mayor of Kharkiv, a city with over a million inhabitants. This information has not yet been officially confirmed.
Brawl in underground parking garage?
At the scene of the crime in the car, investigators discovered a melted canister on the back seat - an indication of fire accelerants. A central lead leads to Vienna's city center, to the underground car park of the luxury hotel "SO/Vienna".
There, shortly before the fire, there is said to have been a violent argument, witnesses report several male voices, and later a large pool of blood was found in the stairwell. The portal "Oe24" writes of a brawl.
Crypto money as a possible motive
The focus is on two suspects: a 19-year-old and a 45-year-old Ukrainian citizen. Video recordings are said to have led to their identification and both were wanted internationally. The police also reconstructed the purchase of petrol - shortly afterwards it became clear that the men had fled to Ukraine, where they were arrested on November 29. Extradition is "ruled out", according to the Vienna police.
There is also a crypto motive: "Oe24" reports that the victim could have been forced to disclose wallet passwords. This has not been confirmed - but several amounts were debited from the victim's crypto account.
