Slovenian criminal investigators, in cooperation with the Austrian security authorities, have successfully completed the criminal investigation of a murder committed in the Brnik area on Thursday evening, 7 November 2024. The suspect of the murder, a 39-year-old man, an Iranian national with regular residence status in Austria, was identified and arrested in the Klagenfurt area on Saturday, 9 November.

At today's press conference of the Kranj Police Directorate, the investigation was presented in more detail by representatives of the Slovenian and Austrian police: mag. Luka Pisovec, Head of the Organised Crime Department at the Police Directorate Kranj, and Oberst Gottlieb Türk, Head of the Carinthian Regional Criminal Investigation Office.

On Friday, 8 November 2024, at 6:45 am, the police were informed of the discovery of a body of a woman in one of the parking lots in the airport area. It immediately became evident that the death was likely the result of an act of violence.

Further information gathering and intensive criminal investigation were undertaken by the officers of the Criminal Police Division of the Kranj Police Directorate, and the entire investigation was directed by the District State Prosecutor's Office in Kranj.

The crime scene examination confirmed that the woman died as a result of an act of violence. The suspect committed the murder with a sharp object, stabbing the victim several times in the body. An investigating judge of the District Court of Kranj, who was in charge of the examination, and an on-duty prosecutor of the District Public Prosecutor's Office in Kranj were also present at the crime scene, as was a medical expert from the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Ljubljana.

The information gathered and the examination carried out established that the victim was a 33-year-old Iranian national with a regular residence status in the Republic of Austria. The victim arrived at Brnik airport on Thursday, 7 November 2024, at around 19:20 on a flight from Istanbul. After completing the formalities at the border and the airport, she walked to a nearby car park where she had parked her car. As she reached her vehicle, a man approached her and, in a treacherous and horrific manner, inflicted several stab wounds to her body with a sharp object. The man had been waiting for her near her car for a long time. He carried out the act very quickly and drove away from the scene in a car with Austrian licence plates to an unknown destination.

Further activities and international cooperation with the Austrian law enforcement authorities led to the identification of the suspect as a 39-year-old Iranian national with regular residence status in Austria, who had been in a relationship with the victim for several years.

As soon as the suspect's identity was established and sufficient evidence was obtained, the police, through the prosecutor's office and the court in Kranj, applied for a European Arrest Warrant and a European Investigation Order. The Klagenfurt Public Prosecutor's Office and the Austrian law enforcement authorities were informed of the issuance of both warrants and the suspect was arrested and placed in police custody on Saturday, 9 November 2024, in the area of Klagenfurt, Austria. At the same time, all requested investigative measures were immediately carried out.

On the basis of the information and evidence gathered, the 39-year-old Iranian national is reasonably suspected of having committed the criminal offence of murder in a horrific and treacherous manner under Article 116(1) and (4)(1) of the Criminal Code ("KZ-1"). On 9 November 2024, the police filed a criminal complaint with the District Public Prosecutor's Office in Kranj against the suspect, who is in custody in Austria awaiting surrender to the Slovenian law enforcement authorities.
This offence is punishable by a minimum of 15 years' imprisonment in the Republic of Slovenia.

We thank the Austrian law enforcement authorities and the prosecutors and courts of both countries for their swift response in the context of international cooperation, which led to the successful conclusion of the investigation by tracing and apprehending the perpetrator of the most serious of crimes, murder. This case has shown once again that swift cooperation between the two countries is necessary and effective even in urgent cases and in the investigation of the most complex crimes.

Oberst Gottlieb Türk, the head of the criminal police of the Austrian State of Carinthia, presented the activities of the Austrian police. According to him, on 9 November 2024, the Public Prosecutor's Office in Klagenfurt, on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant issued in Slovenia, ordered Carinthian criminal police to arrest a 39-year-old Iranian national on suspicion of committing the criminal offence of murder.

"Following a whereabouts check and brief surveillance, the suspect was arrested on 9 November 2024 at 13:50 at his workplace in a Klagenfurt supermarket. The arrest was carried out by officers of the Carinthian criminal police in cooperation with officers of the EKO Cobra special unit. The suspect did not resist arrest.

During questioning by the Carinthian criminal police, the suspect confessed to murdering his ex-wife with a knife in the car park of Ljubljana Airport. Consequently, his apartment in Klagenfurt was searched and the knife allegedly used to commit the crime and the clothes worn by the suspect at the time of the crime were found. Data carriers were preserved, as were the traces on the vehicle the suspect had used at the scene. The results of the investigation, the seizure and the preservation of the traces will be handed over to the Slovenian police today.

The Iranian suspect arrived in Austria in 2017 with his wife and two children. Their application for international protection was rejected. Nevertheless, both he and his ex-wife had a valid residence permit. The couple married in 2008 and divorced in 2023. They have three children together. The suspect is currently in custody pending extradition. The Klagenfurt Regional Court will decide on further proceedings," Türk said.

See also: Pressemitteilung auf Deutsch

Related content

Crime detection and investigation