Truculent triple homicide in an Austrian aristocratic family

[Akrapovic]

Count Tono Goëss has been arrested for the shooting murder of his father, his brother and his stepmother

It could be the plot of an especially bloody episode of ‘Falcon Crest’, but unfortunately these facts are not fiction. It all happened in a quiet and elegant castle surrounded by vineyards, in a peaceful town north of Vienna that was preparing for traditional Christmas celebrations. Nothing presaged that shortly after two o'clock on Thursday afternoon, five shotgun shots would cause an unprecedented alarm in the town of Schloss Bockflieb, in Lower Austria.

Shortly after the police discovered the lord of the castle, Count Tono Goëss (54) with three bloodied bodies: those of his father Ulrich (92), his stepmother Margherita (87) and his little brother Ernst (52). The alleged murderer surrendered without offering resistance after admitting the triple crime. He had previously ordered a maid to notify an ambulance.

The reasons for this triple murder in this family of the Austrian aristocracy are still not entirely clear although there were rumors in the town about family disagreements for a long time. The count had also commented in public more than once his complaints about the difficult relations with the family, for example, the fights over the management of the winery he ran with his brother. Years before, another sister had left Austria to convert to the Islamic religion.

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As it has transpired, in a letter found by the police at the scene of the crime, Tono left written how difficult it had been to live for years under the "pressure of his father", which had led him to develop "a deep hatred" towards the. The disputes over the inheritance of an increasingly waning fortune along with his brother Ernst have also been another cause of the triple murder.

The count - considered according to statements by the residents of the town as a very polite and sociable person - is currently being held in Korneuburg prison pending a psychiatric and toxicological report.

 

The truculent tragedy has shocked the small Austrian town, where the family was very dear and very involved in charitable and church-related activities.

The counts of Goëss are among the oldest and most respected families in the country, have numerous properties and are related even to the Habsburgs. The family's history dates back to ten centuries ago when their ancestors arrived in Austria from Portugal where they soon began to occupy high positions as governors, cardinals and bishops.