The middle-class Austrian man who claims he murdered his entire family with an axe to save them from financial ruin has told officers he “loved" his victims, but that Tuesday seemed like "a good time" to kill them.
Austrian police said today that Reinhard Steinbauer, 39, did not show any signs of remorse as he told investigators how he bought the axe in a DIY store last Saturday after planning the killings for weeks.
He then celebrated the Pentecost holiday with the family on Monday, and hacked them to death on Tuesday, because the day seemed “a good time” for the murder.
Police say Mr Steinbauer, a freelance PR consultant, has given officers the full account of how he murdered his wife, aged 42, and their seven-year-old daughter with an axe in their home in Vienna’s upmarket 13th District, and later massacred his parents and his father-in-law using the same murder weapon.
He admitted that the had been planning the murders of his wife Barbara, 42, their daughter Natalie, 7, his parents Engelbert 72 and Gabriela, 70, and father-in-law Heinrich Reiter, 80, for weeks before he finally made the decision on May 9.
Mr Steinbauer then chose Tuesday as a “good time” for the murders; after killing his wife and daughter in their home, he called the employers of his wife, who was a high-ranking civil servant in the Finance Ministry, explained that she was ill and could not come to work.
Michael Braunsperger, spokesman for Vienna Police, said: “The suspect shows no signs of remorse; he answers all questions calmly and in detail and it is not yet clear what mental state he was during the time of the crime. He claims to have tried to commit suicide.”
Dr Reinhard Haller, one of Austria’s most prominent forensic psychiatrists, has been summoned to prepare a psychological profile of Mr Steinbauer and determine whether he was responsible for his actions.
The massacre has shocked a country which is still attempting to come to terms with the case of Josef Fritzl who kept his daughter, Elisabeth, in a dungeon beneath his house for 24 years and forced her to bear him seven children
Like Mr Fritzl, Mr Steinbauer was apparently an affluent and respected member of society.
After the killings, Mr Steinbauer drove around aimlessly for several hours and unsuccessfully tried to hang himself before handing himself into police in the early hours of Wednesday morning saying: “The bodies of my dead wife and children are lying in my flat.”
Police found the body of Mrs Steinbauer in the bathroom and Natalie’s in a walk-in closet. Their remains were partially covered in sheets. The axe used in the killings was discovered in a rucksack behind the back seat of his rental car.
Letters in which Mr Stainbauer apologised for his actions have been found next to the bodies of his parents and father-in-law but none has been discovered by his wife and daughter.
The case is not expected to go on trial before autumn.
An Austrian man who confessed to hacking his wife, daughter, parents and father-in-law to death with an axe felt exhausted but "relieved" after his killing spree, police say.
He said he did not want his family to have to bear the shame of financial ruin.
Investigator Thomas Stecher said Reinhard S, a freelance public relations consultant, had remained "poised" and "matter-of-fact" during questioning.
"He is still of the opinion that he acted correctly. After the murders he felt both exhausted and relieved," Stecher said.
Reinhard S butchered first his 42-year-old wife and seven-year-old daughter in the family home in Vienna on Tuesday morning.
His wife Barbara, a high-ranking civil servant in the finance ministry, was found dead in the bathroom, while the body of his daughter, Natalie, was discovered in a walk-in closet.
He then drove in a rental car to Ansfelden, 180km west of the capital, where he murdered his parents, Gabriela, 69, and Engelbert, 72.
He always used a rental car to visit his parents because he had no car of his own, Stecher said.
He left three letters of explanation and apology by his parents' bodies, one to his brother and sister, one to the victims themselves and one to the authorities.
He then proceeded on to the city of Linz where he hacked his 80-year-old father-in-law to death. He then drove back to Vienna, where he turned himself in to police in the early hours of Wednesday.
Police said that Reinhard S bought the murder weapon for €9 ($14.95) on Saturday, after deciding to use an axe rather than a knife.
He cleaned it after each murder, keeping it in a rucksack, and he also changed his clothes after each killing. He covered the bodies with sheets and towels "out of respect for the dead," they said.
He decided not to kill his brother and sister because they had families of their own.
Once he had killed both his wife and daughter on Tuesday morning, he phoned his wife's employers to call in sick for her, police said.
He had repeatedly played with idea of killing his family, but never had the strength to commit the murders before, police said.
Reinhard S is under constant surveillance after unsuccessfully trying to commit suicide immediately following the murders, the investigator added.
In an interview with the Austrian news agency APA, the suspect's lawyer Ernst Schillhammer said his client was "sorry" and a "broken man".
Schillhammer rejected suggestions his client felt no emotion.
"He's concentrating on answering all the questions put to him," he said.
The suspect was scheduled to be brought before a custodial magistrate on Friday.
In order to determine whether he was fully responsible for the murders and therefore fit to stand trial, he would be examined by a psychiatrist, possibly next week.
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Unfortunately Austria will never introduce sensible axe control laws. Too many politicians have taken money from axe-manufacturing conglomerates for their campaign funds. A politician who says you can't carry an axe around Vienna is branded a "liberal" by the press and loses all credibility. Sad.
Dan, London, UK
I guess you boys would seriously argue that if all Austrians carried axes this could have been prevented.
Keith Carter, Perth, Australia
I'm just relieved there is no capital punishment in Austria. Steinbauer may still be able to contribute to society. Maybe write a book on axes and their many uses. I was worried I might offend some family members with my comments, but then I realized, he killed them all.
Nick, Ventura, USA