The public prosecutor’s office accuses them of torturing or neglecting minors, younger or defenseless people. The girl was not informed about her illness and suffered excruciating pain until she was taken to the hospital much too late, where she died shortly afterwards. The parents pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor Ines Küttler described the poor condition in which the girl was admitted to the Graz Clinic in February 2023. The emaciated child had several tumors throughout her body, which had serious consequences. Among other things, the 14-year-old suffered from jaundice, she could no longer swallow and was afraid of suffocation because one of the tumors was pressing on her esophagus and trachea. The parents explained that their daughter was afraid of doctors and had therefore only come to the hospital now. They appeared to the doctors and nurses to be “completely emotionless” about their dying daughter.
“At first we thought the parents had fallen for a charlatan.”
The girl’s last hours were difficult; her father repeatedly asked her not to go, not to give in, because that was only “what they wanted.” By that he probably meant the hospital, said the prosecutor. “At first we thought the parents had fallen for a charlatan.” However, some of the former doctors, energeticians and faith healers who the parents had visited with their daughter said that they had urgently recommended going to a hospital. “None of these people claimed to be able to cure cancer.” The investigations against them were therefore stopped. Because the father contradicted earlier statements and was now incriminating the healers, it was ultimately postponed. Some of them did promise healing, one said, for example, that with “energetic chakra healing” the tumors in the feet and neck would go away, according to the father.
In his reply, defense attorney Alexander Todor-Kostic attacked the prosecution and said that exculpatory evidence had not been evaluated. “The parents wanted nothing but to accompany their child on a self-determined path.” The girl would have had a level of mental maturity like a 16-year-old teenager and refused conventional medical treatment and painkillers. “She was clear and insightful until her death.” The daughter made the decision not to attend an appointment for the biopsy herself because it would have only ended in chemotherapy and radiation.
“My daughter and I, we experienced miracles”
The parents asserted in their statements that their daughter had refused conventional medical treatment. The 57-year-old father repeatedly drew parallels to his own suffering, for which he received help from alternative medicine and energy specialists. This also helped the daughter. “My daughter and I, we experienced miracles,” he said. Instead of a biopsy, he and his daughter went to see a retired doctor who said that the tumor was “nothing bad.” An “alchemist” who was ordained next door also said that the tumor was “nothing bad.”
The mother, herself a lawyer, protested through tears: “I don’t know what I should have done differently.” The daughter would have refused conventional medical treatment, she didn’t want that. “She kept saying: Mom, I can decide for myself.” The parents repeatedly offered to go to the doctors. “Should I have grabbed her and dragged her?”
“system failure”
The oncology expert spoke of a “system failure” that he identified in the case. “I have never seen anything like this either,” he said, referring to statements from the hospital staff who looked after the girl in the last few days. “It must have been incredible pain,” he said, describing what the 14-year-old had to endure as a result of the rampant cancer. He emphasized that pain treatment would have been possible even if the 14-year-old had refused chemotherapy. He assessed the chances of recovery as 70 to 80 percent if the cancer had still been without metastases after it was discovered in October 2022, and 30 to 50 percent if it had spread. What it actually looked like remains unclear because of the failed biopsy.
Because the prosecutor wants to question additional witnesses such as the girl’s various therapists, the trial was postponed. The next hearing is scheduled for May 15th.
