Boyfriend must stand trial Woman freezes to death alone on the mountain - now her parents are speaking out
A 33-year-old woman from Salzburg died in January 2025 during a winter tour on the Grossglockner. Her boyfriend is now on trial for gross negligence manslaughter. Shortly before the start of the trial, the victim's parents surprisingly stand behind the accused.
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- A 33-year-old woman died of hypothermia during a winter ascent of the Grossglockner in January 2025.
- The public prosecutor's office accuses her boyfriend of grossly negligent homicide because he left her exhausted in the storm.
- The victim's parents are publicly defending the accused, the trial begins in Innsbruck in mid-February.
After the death of a 33-year-old woman from Salzburg during a winter tour on the Grossglockner, the case is now before the courts. From February 19, her boyfriend at the time will have to answer for grossly negligent homicide at the Innsbruck Regional Court.
The woman was abandoned around 30 meters below the summit on the night of 18 to 19 January 2025 in temperatures of up to minus ten degrees and strong winds. Mountain rescuers found her dead the next morning. According to the investigation, the accused was much more experienced in high alpine terrain and had planned the tour.
Surprisingly, the victim's parents spoke out. In an interview with "DieZeit", they emphasized that their daughter had loved mountain tours and had always decided for herself which activities to undertake. The family is still trying to come to terms with the accident.
"She loved climbing tours with her boyfriend. She was always able to decide for herself whether to go on a tour or not," she is quoted as saying. The family thus contradicts the image of an overburdened or externally determined companion.
However, the public prosecutor's office clearly sees the defendant as being responsible. He was to be regarded as the de facto tour guide and made several serious mistakes. The prosecution lists a total of nine failures, including a late start time, ignoring bad weather forecasts and failing to break off the tour in good time.
Defendant denies misconduct
The investigators consider it particularly serious that the man left his exhausted partner behind in the storm at night without putting her in a bivouac sack he had brought with him or immediately alerting the mountain rescue service. The fact that his cell phone was temporarily set to silent also plays a central role in the accusation.
The mother of the deceased also makes it clear how much the family is still struggling with what happened. "Our family is still working on understanding this accident and then coming to terms with it. We miss our Bergfex," she says. The term stands for the daughter's passion for mountaineering, which those around her describe as a central part of her life.
Several mountain guides from the region speak of a chain of tragic mistakes. The tour should have been aborted at the latest at a section known as the "point of no return".
Through his lawyer, the accused denies any wrongdoing. He had recognized the emergency situation and wanted to organize help. The defense did not want to comment in detail on individual accusations before the trial began.
The court will now have to clarify whether the defendant's behavior was criminally relevant - or whether it was a tragic but not legally culpable accident. The presumption of innocence applies.
