An Afghan national has been detained at Berlin airport attempting to flee Europe after being sought in connection to the murder of his wife at their apartment in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
The 31-year-old suspect had been on the run since Thursday morning when family members found his wife on the floor of their apartment in Vienna-Meidling. She had multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.
“We came to the apartment last night and wanted the police to open the door,” friends of the victim told the Heute news outlet. “Now she’s dead and it’s too late.”
It is understood the friends had reported an argument between the victim and her husband the previous night.
Austrian news site oe24.at reported that the victim had only been in Austria for two months and was recently married to the suspect in what is believed to have been an arranged marriage.
The husband had been living in Vienna for 14 years having moved from Afghanistan at the age of 17 and was a recognized asylum seeker.
He had managed to travel 700 kilometers across Europe undetected to the German capital where he attempted to catch a flight before being apprehended by the authorities.
Investigations are ongoing into the suspected homicide.
It is understood the German authorities will make arrangements to extradite the suspect to Austria.