A man in Vienna confessed to murdering his ex-girlfriend in 2018 and hiding her body on a military training ground after a voice message gave police a breakthrough.
VIENNA: A man has confessed to killing his ex-girlfriend nearly eight years after she disappeared in the Austrian capital.
The 32-year-old is now being treated as a murder suspect, police and prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
Officials said a voice message from the suspect and increasing investigative pressure led to a breakthrough in the long-running case.
Jennifer S, then 21, was reported missing in January 2018 after she failed to arrive at work.
Suspicion quickly fell on her then 24-year-old partner, who told police they had separated before her disappearance.
A thorough search of her flat at the time found no evidence of a violent crime, investigators explained.
Public appeals and large-scale searches involving hundreds of officers, dogs, and an excavator were unsuccessful.
The turning point came this year when a voice message from an online chat was forwarded to police.
“In the chat, he talked about the best way to dispose of a body – avoiding leaving any traces and ensuring that no one would find it,” said investigator Wolfgang Lehner.
After further interrogations and a recent violent incident involving another woman, the man confessed last weekend.
He stated that he strangled Jennifer S in 2018 when she wanted to break up with him.
He hid her body under leaves and branches on the Austrian Armed Forces’ training grounds near Vienna.
The remains of the deceased have since been recovered. – Bernama-dpa
