Six-year-old drowned while walking – father suspected of murder

The case made headlines in Austria for days, and there was speculation about a mysterious crime: a six-year-old boy was found dead in a river (Kitzbüheler Ache) at the end of August last year.

According to the reconstruction of the crime at the time, the father of the mentally handicapped child was hit by a stranger with a bottle while walking in St. Johann in Tirol and robbed while unconscious. Then the child is said to have gotten out of the stroller and fallen into the river.

Now, six months after the child's death by drowning, his father, who was born in Germany, is under urgent suspicion of murder. "Several pieces of evidence have now come together to form a picture that corroborates the urgent suspicion," said a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Innsbruck. The 38-year-old father does not confess and sticks to his portrayal. The court now has until Thursday evening to decide whether to impose pre-trial detention.

According to information from the APA news agency, the father is said to have carried the bottle with which he was allegedly knocked down in the stroller. The injuries could not be reconciled with the crime either. The spokesman for the public prosecutor's office did not want to comment on these and other indications.

His defense attorney could not understand the arrest of his client. “The police apparently accuse him of trying to cure his son of his illness. My client is shocked by this accusation and vehemently denies it," said the lawyer to the "Tiroler Tageszeitung".

According to media reports, six-year-old Leon suffered from the rare syngap syndrome, a genetic defect that severely impairs the mental and motor development of those affected.