The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been found inside freezing appliances in an apartment in western Austria.
The victims, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were detected on the end of last week. The cooling units were concealed behind a false wall in the apartment, situated in the Innsbruck area.
Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were detained in the month of June. The 55-year-old, a work associate of the female victim, stated to authorities last week that there had been an accident—but disputed intentional killing.
Speaking to reporters earlier, a spokesman for the state prosecutor stated the pair were being detained on "high likelihood of intentional killing".
The names of those involved have not been disclosed by law enforcement, in accordance with Austrian law.
Their going missing was first reported by the female victim's relative, who resides in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Police revealed the male associate claimed at the time she had taken an extended trip with her daughter to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.
The victim's bank card was then noted as being active overseas on multiple occasions.
However when officers entered the mother's apartment, her smartphone was located.
Someone also stated overhearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and shouts of "mum" on the day the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.
A wider criminal probe was launched, with investigators uncovering several texts originating from the mother's device—among them a job termination message to her employer and communications to the male colleague.
Law enforcement confirmed a amount in the thousands was also sent to the man.
The head of the State Criminal Police Office told reporters on that day that a storage facility had been secured before the victims' disappearance and a freezer had been positioned inside.
The brothers took out the cooling unit from the storage space on the date the victims went missing, she stated. And a shortly afterward, they obtained a second unit.
Authorities say they believe this points to the demise were premeditated.
"The reason for their demise remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," Tersch said.
Mayr—from the legal authorities—noted the exact sequence of events is not yet known, but the remains were carefully placed and went unnoticed during a previous house search.
While the men were taken into custody in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the suspect confessed to an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He disputes any murderous intent, investigators said.
Meanwhile, his younger brother acknowledged a attempt to hide evidence but denied awareness of a homicide.
The brothers are at this time in pre-trial detention in jails in two Austrian cities, around 117 miles (189km) apart.
Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister stated the "reported homicide of mother and child... symbolizes the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and exposes a brutal scheme".
"Females of all ages are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are female," they added.
"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must address decisively."
