Lots of doubts! A woman was abandoned on the top of a mountain and froze to death. Her boyfriend went down the mountain alone to ask for help and delayed for several hours before calling the police.

This article is reproduced from the public account: West Canada Weekly (public account ID: westcanadaweekly)

An Austrian man left his girlfriend on the top of a snow-capped mountain to descend alone. Later, her girlfriend froze to death.

This tragedy that happened in January last year actually happenedshocking twist. Local police have charged the man with manslaughter and a trial will begin on Thursday.

According to court documents,The whole incident is indeed full of doubtsprosecutors charged 39-year-old Thomas Plamberger with committingNine major mistakesdirectly leading to the death of his 33-year-old girlfriend Kerstin Gurtner.

The police conducted an 11-month investigation, obtaining and analyzing the two men’s mobile phone data, sports watch records, photos taken during the climb, and a report issued by an independent mountaineering expert.

At 6:45 in the morning on January 18, 2025, the two began to climb the 3,798-meter-high Grossglockner, the highest peak in Austria, along the Studlgrat route.

This line belongs to‘Quite difficult’Level, requires excellent physical fitness and rock climbing experience.

Thomas is an expert mountain climber, but his girlfriend has little experience in mountain climbing.

At 1:30 pm, after the two arrived at the last turnaround point called “Breakfast Point” before climbing to the summit, they decided to continue climbing, but the weather began to deteriorate sharply.

At that time, strong winds reached a peak of 74 kilometers per hour. The temperature was minus 8 degrees Celsius, and the body temperature reached minus 20 degrees Celsius.

The prosecutor believed thatThe woman is wearing soft-soled snow boots, which are not suitable for climbing mountains.they should turn back immediately.

At about 2 a.m. on January 19, the woman was extremely exhausted and had symptoms of hypothermia and could not continue. Thomas left her about 50 meters from the top of the mountain and descended to seek help.

Prosecutors allege that he failed to move his girlfriend to a sheltered location before leaving, nor did he provide her with a simple camping sleeping bag or aluminum foil thermal blanket to maintain body temperature.It’s like abandoning her on the ridge。

What is suspicious is that the two men were actually trapped since 8:50 p.m.But Thomas never called the police. The light of their climbing lights can be seen from the bottom of the mountain. The local rescue team has started the search and rescue on their own, and the mobile phone signal has been smooth during this period.

As early as 22:50, a police helicopter flew over, but Thomas did not send a distress signal.

The police tried to call his mobile phone several times.But no one answered. It wasn’t until 12:35 a.m. that Thomas made the first call.

At this time, the girlfriend’s condition had not worsened. The rescuers later called again and again.But no one answered anymoreuntil Thomas went down the mountain alone at 2 a.m. and called for help again at 3:30.

The defendant’s lawyer argued that his mobile phone was set to vibrate slightly and he did not notice any missed calls. After calling the police, the phone remained silent, and subsequent calls were not heard.This seems a bit unreasonable.

Although the police spent a lot of manpower and material resources investigating the case, and the prosecutors also tried to send Thomas to jail, the mother of the deceased did not want him to take responsibility for this tragedy.

Earlier this month, she said in an interview with Germany’s Die Zeit:He was unwilling to blame Thomas for his daughter’s death and called the accusations against him in the media and online a “witch hunt.”。

She also said that her daughter used to hike at night, and the two of them were equipped with the necessary equipment for night climbing that night.

What the truth is will soon be concluded. If convicted, Thomas faces three years in prison.

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