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Cop confesses to murder of girlfriend and son

The Local Austria
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Cop confesses to murder of girlfriend and son
The apartment building in Vienna where the couple lived. Photo: ORF

A police officer from Vienna has confessed to shooting dead his pregnant girlfriend with his service weapon and strangling their son.

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The 23-year-old, named only as Daniel L., was interrogated for several hours over the weekend and confessed to killing his 25-year-old partner Claudia and their child on October 2nd.

He shot her with his service pistol, which he was not supposed to take home with him. He admitted that contrary to the rules he often took his gun home and kept it in a box.

He said that after shooting Claudia, he then strangled their one-year-old son, who was in the next room. He put the two bodies in the trunk of his car and three days later drove to Styria.

He told detectives that he had been fighting with his partner for several months and that she had physically attacked him and imprisoned him in their apartment.

He said that on the day of the murders he had wanted to end the relationship, and that he had fought with her over this in their shared apartment in Vienna’s Margareten district. He then shot her.

Daniel L. had been working with the Vienna state police department since January 1st. He reported his girlfriend and son as missing last Monday night. He told police that she had left the apartment together with their toddler, taking a bag of the boy's clothes with her, and that he had not seen her since.

His girlfriend, originally from Klagenfurt, was six months pregnant. A friend of hers wrote an appeal on Facebook, asking people to help find her.

On Tuesday the man called his boss to say that he was sick and drove to his parents’ house in Styria. He buried the two corpses in a meadow, not far from the home where he grew up.

When police searched the couple’s flat in Vienna for clues as to the whereabouts of the missing woman they found traces of blood. The suspect was arrested in Styria and confessed shortly after.

Daniel L.’s colleagues described him as friendly and committed to his job.

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