June 7, 2022 - Harald Kopitz (57) pleaded guilty today to killing his three children. Kopitz's trial began behind closed doors today at the Zagreb County Court on charges that he killed his three children in an apartment last September. At 14:00, the court announced that Kopitz had been sentenced to 50 years in prison, which is the maximum prison sentence in Croatia.

For the death of each child individually, he was given 27 years. A five-member court panel headed by Judge Iva Gradiška Lovreček handed down the verdict in one day, reports Index.hr.

The trial was closed to the public. Judge Iva Gradiški Lovreček made the decision not to hold Harald Kopitz trial in public with the consent of the accused, his defense, and the prosecution in order to protect the dignity of the deceased children and their mother. Harald Kopitz had previously been brought to court from prison with handcuffs on, and the courtroom was vacated before pleading guilty.

Kopitz put 30 tablets in cocoa

The Prosecutor's Office charged Kopitz with three counts of aggravated murder, punishable by up to 50 years in prison. The verdict was announced earlier on Friday.

It was first believed that Kopitz suffocated the children, but it was later determined that he first stunned the children with pills and then suffocated them. He first showered the children and then put 30 tablets of Diazepam in warm cocoa, which the children drank.

The media wrote that Kopitz lived and worked in Zagreb, where he had his own companies, and that he worked for several large companies as a financial consultant and negotiator. The mother of the murdered children worked in a hotel in Dubrovnik, and the children were with their father over the weekend.

An expert examination conducted at the Hospital for Persons Deprived of Liberty established that Kopitz was sane and therefore accountable at the time of the crime.

Judge: The children trusted you endlessly

"You took advantage of the children's trust in you, as a father, although aware that the children are helpless due to their low chronological age and completely dependent on your care and needs, you gave the children a pre-prepared cocoa drink, in which you dissolved at least 30 Diazepam tablets. Aware that this amount of tablets is fatal for children. The children drank the drink, believing you as a father, unaware of the threat to health and life. As a result, the children died of acute poisoning," said the judge in a statement.

"These acts were committed in an insidious manner towards the victims who are particularly vulnerable," the judge added.

"At that time you were the only guarantor of their lives and they trusted you endlessly as a father. And you took three little people at the beginning of their lives and denied them a future. You took away their mother's greatest value, and the consequences are felt by the whole of this community'', the judge said during the sentencing.

"Being left without money could not be a reason to take three young lives," she said. She also mentioned that Kopitz's farewell message, which he left on the table with an extremely expensive bottle of champagne, proves that material values ​​were more important to him than the lives of children.

“As a mother and a judge, it is incomprehensible to me that you deprived your children of life at a time when you were no longer living because you were left without the material goods to which you were accustomed,” she added.

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June 6, 2022 - The Harald Kopitz trial (57), who is being charged by the prosecution with killing his three children in an apartment last September, will begin at the Zagreb County Court on Tuesday. The Austrian citizen faces up to 50 years in prison.

As reported by Total Croatia News, in September last year, Austrian citizen Harald Kopitz was arrested by Croatian police in Zagreb for the murder of his three children. 

Harald and his wife were divorced, and she left her children to spend the weekend with their father while she was on a business trip down in Dubrovnik. On the night of September 25, following a worrying Facebook status posted by Kopitz that was later reported by his contacts, Zagreb police entered Harald's apartment only to find the dead bodies of the children and their father in a critical condition after having attempted to take his own life.

Harald Kopitz, an Austrian citizen residing in Zagreb, was arrested by the police for the alleged murder of his three children, which was later confirmed. In the Facebook status he posted, Kopitz wrote something of a farewell letter, noting that his ex-wife thwarted their love and that his job situation was not improving. In addition, he stressed that he did not receive the necessary support and that he was ''at the end''. The worrying post caught the attention of his contacts, who reported it to the police. You can read the full story here.

As Index.hr reported on February 23rd, the State Attorney's Office (DORH) filed an indictment against Harald Kopitz for the murder of his three children.

"Following an investigation, the Zagreb County State's Attorney's Office filed an indictment before the Zagreb County Court on 23 February 2022 against a citizen of the Republic of Austria (1965) for three offenses against life and limb and three aggravated murders under Article 111, Items 1 and 2 in conjunction with Article 51 of the Criminal Code. 

The indictment charges the defendant with the following: That on September 24, 2021, at around 22:00 in Zagreb, in the apartment where he was staying with his three minor children (2013, 2013 and 2016), with a premeditated intention to deprive the children of their lives, Kopitz took advantage of the children's trust in him as a father and committed the aforementioned criminal offenses to the detriment of the children. In the indictment, the Zagreb County State's Attorney's Office requested that the defendant's pre-trial detention be extended until the end of the criminal proceedings due to the danger of recidivism and the particularly serious circumstances surrounding committing this criminal offense (Article 123, paragraph 1, items 3 and 4 of the criminal proceedings)", announced the DORH.

Let us remind you that Kopitz took the lives of his three children in the Zagreb neighbourhood of Mlinovi at the end of September 2021, and then tried to take his own life. He was sentenced to pre-trial detention.

As reported today by Slobodna Dalmacija, the Harald Kopitz trial will be held tomorrow at Zagreb County Court. Kopitz has been charged with three counts of aggravated murder and faces up to 50 years in prison.

The media wrote that Kopitz lived and worked in Zagreb, where he had his own companies, and that he worked for several large companies as a financial consultant and negotiator. The mother of the murdered children was working in a hotel in Dubrovnik, and the children were with their father over the weekend.

An expert examination conducted at the Hospital for Persons Deprived of Liberty established that Kopitz could be held accountable at the time of the crime, and the trial will be closed to the public.

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February 23, 2022 - The State Attorney's Office has filed an indictment against Harald Kopitz, who killed his three children in Zagreb's Mlinovi last year. He faces up to 50 years in prison.

As reported by Total Croatia News, in September last year Austrian citizen Harald Kopitz was arrested by Croatian police in Zagreb for the murder of his three children. 

Harald and his wife were divorced, and she left her children to spend the weekend with their father while she was on a business trip in Dubrovnik. On the night of September 25, following a worrying Facebook status posted by Kopitz that was later reported by his contacts, Zagreb police entered Harald's apartment only to find the dead bodies of the children and their father in critical condition after attempting suicide.

Harald Kopitz, an Austrian citizen residing in Zagreb, was arrested by the police for the alleged murder of his three children, which was later confirmed. In the Facebook status he posted, Kopitz wrote something of a farewell letter, noting that his ex-wife thwarted their current love relationship and that his job situation was not improving. In addition, he stressed that he did not receive the necessary support and that he was ''at the end''. The worrying post caught the attention of his contacts, who reported it to the police. You can read the full story here.

As Index.hr reports today, the State Attorney's Office (DORH) has filed an indictment against Harald Kopitz for the murder of his three children. The Austrian citizen faces up to 50 years in prison.

"Following an investigation, the Zagreb County State's Attorney's Office filed an indictment before the Zagreb County Court on 23 February 2022 against a citizen of the Republic of Austria (1965) for three offenses against life and limb and three aggravated murders under Article 111. items 1 and 2 in conjunction with Article 51 of the Criminal Code. 

The indictment charges the defendant that on September 24, 2021, at around 10:00 pm, in Zagreb, in the apartment where he was staying with his three minor children (2013, 2013 and 2016), with a premeditated intention to deprive the children of their lives, took advantage of the children's trust in him as a father and committed the aforementioned criminal offenses to the detriment of the children. In the indictment, the Zagreb County State's Attorney's Office requested that the defendant's pre-trial detention be extended until the end of the criminal proceedings due to the danger of recidivism and particularly serious circumstances of committing this criminal offense (Article 123, paragraph 1, items 3 and 4 of the criminal proceedings)", announced the DORH.

Let us remind you that Kopitz killed his three children in Zagreb's Mlinovi at the end of September, and then tried to kill himself. He was sentenced to pre-trial detention because of the danger of repeating the crime, so as not to influence witnesses and because of the particularly difficult circumstances of the crime he is suspected of.

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September 26, 2021 - New details have emerged in the Harald Kopitz children deaths on September 25 in the Zagreb neighborhood of Mlinovi. 

Harald Kopitz, a 56-year-old Austrian from Vienna who lives and works in Zagreb, killed his three children at 2 am on Saturday, September 25. He is said to have strangled his 7-year-old twins and 4-year old son. He also posted a haunting message on Facebook before the crime and tried to kill himself. But many questions have been left unanswered. 

Police found the lifeless bodies of three children, two seven-year-old twins, and a four-year-old boy, and their stunned father, who tried to kill himself, in an apartment in Zagreb's Mlinovi neighborhood. He was transported to KBC Sisters of Charity, where he is now being treated. He is guarded by the police at all times.

Harald Kopitz was a businessman that worked for several large companies as a financial consultant and negotiator.

The parents of the murdered children were divorced, the mother was not in Zagreb at the time of the crime, and the children were spending the weekend with their father. The police say that there were no reports of domestic violence in that family before. However, the Zagreb County State's Attorney's Office, which investigated the Mlinovi neighborhood, reported that their 56-year-old father, an Austrian citizen, was suspected of killing the three minor children.

The Prosecutor's Office stated that, in cooperation with the police, it took further measures and actions within its competence to determine all the circumstances of these criminal offenses.

But while the police and the Prosecutor's Office are trying to unravel all the circumstances of the horrific crime, information is leaking to the public about the murder and the killer, reports Index.hr.

According to the latest information obtained by Index from sources close to the investigation, investigators, who first believed that Kopitz strangled his children, are increasingly inclined to think that the key to death was poisoning, probably pills.

However, suffocation injuries were found on the bodies of the three children, so investigators suspect that the father poisoned and suffocated the children, Index has learned.

But what exactly caused the deaths of the children will be determined by the expected autopsy results, as well as by toxicological expertise.

It is also possible that some of the children died of poisoning and some by suffocation.

The cause of death of the three children is one of the critical questions to which there is no answer yet. In addition, in the coming days, investigators will search for answers to questions that prompted the perpetrator to commit such a crime, whether he planned everything, but also whether he was under the influence of any means that would affect his judgment.

The children were with their father for the weekend as the ex-wife left them on Friday to go on a business trip to Dubrovnik. Around midnight, it is suspected that Kopitz got the children ready for sleep and gave them a cocktail of various pills and medicines before. According to Večernji List, the children, or one of them, started to wake up, and Kopitz then began to choke them.

However, it is not yet known what exactly the children died of and whether it was suffocation or poisoning, as investigators increasingly believe.

When he was convinced that none of the three children were breathing anymore, one by one, he took them in his arms and carried them to the couch in the living room. He laid them next to each other and placed their favorite toys around them.

A gruesome scene greeted police officers who came out to report a possible suicide. Namely, shortly after midnight, the 56-year-old Austrian posted a farewell status on Facebook and Instagram.

One of his acquaintances noticed this status and informed the police, who immediately went to the apartment. But it was too late. The status has since been removed from Facebook but remains on Instagram and Linkedin. 

The officers were shocked by the horrific scene, and to experienced investigators, this was one of the scariest scenes they had ever witnessed. Children's clothes were hanging on the window of the apartment where the horror took place that morning.

The officers at the scene will require psychological help.

"I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere condolences to my mother and extended family members as a police officer, but also on my behalf, a mother and parent. Given that this is a very traumatic event, the police officers will be provided with professional assistance," said Nikolina Grubišić Požar from the Zagreb Juvenile Delinquency Department in a statement in front of the Zagreb police headquarters.

Grubišić Požar added that upon arriving at the scene in Mlinovi, a man was found in poor health and three minor children who showed no signs of life.

"The arrival of the emergency medical doctor confirmed the death of the children and that it was a violent death. The citizen was provided with medical assistance and placed at Sisters of Charity Hospital, where he is hospitalized," Grubišić Požar added, concluding that a criminal investigation was underway.

The Zagreb police had no information, nor had they ever intervened in a family in the Zagreb neighborhood of Mlinovi.

The director of the Sisters of Charity Hospital, Davor Vagić, said that 56-year-old Harald Kopitz is stable for now.

"Tonight, a 56-year-old man with a narrowed consciousness was brought by ambulance accompanied by the police. The patient was treated in our unified Emergency Hospital, after which he was transferred to our intensive care unit, where further diagnostics and treatment were made," said Vagić in an extraordinary address to the press in front of the Vinogradska Hospital.

According to him, the patient is stable and with no life-threatening conditions.

"The man is conscious. Absolutely all possible findings are being made under the suspicion that he was under the influence of psychopharmaceuticals, but we cannot say that definitively," Dr. Vagić emphasized.

Psychopharmaceuticals are generally considered drugs that affect mental processes, so they are used to treat mental illness and disorders. They include several groups of drugs such as psycholeptics (antipsychotics, anxiolytics, hypnotics, and sedatives), psychoanaleptics (antidepressants, psychostimulants, nootropics, and anti-dementia drugs), and other drugs that act on the central nervous system. However, in a broader sense, psychopharmaceuticals are considered chemical substances that, in a specific dose, have a special effect on mental life and cognitive behavior.

Psychiatrist Herman Vukušić said that mentioning psychopharmaceuticals, in this case, could be harmful because it could lead to patients shying away from them and that it is almost impossible for these drugs to be the cause of such a crime.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Family and Social Policy Margareta Mađerić said that the competent Center for Social Welfare had no information about domestic violence.

"The Center for Social Welfare did not have any reports, of individuals, mothers, but also of any other bodies, which would indicate domestic violence against children or mothers," Mađerić said at a press conference.

She pointed out that this family was in a mandatory consultation at the competent Center for Social Welfare in 2018, adding that this is the standard procedure for all divorced couples.

She said that the father and mother of the children then came to the Center together and agreed to have joint custody of their three children.

"After that, there was no action by the Social Welfare Center. The center could not act because they did not have information that there was violence," said Mađerić.

At the same time, she called on the citizens to immediately report any suspicion of violence in their environment to the competent institutions.

While investigators are trying to unravel all the circumstances of the horrific crime, the mother, devastated by what happened, went to Neum, where she was born.

According to unofficial information, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Dnevni Avaz writes that the children will be buried in Neum.

Dragan Jurković, the mayor of Neum, explained the connection between the mother and Neum. He also said the children were there this summer.

"She finished primary school in Neum, her parents live in Neum, and the children stayed in Neum over the summer," Jurković told Avaz.

He announced a day of mourning if the funeral is in Neum.

"If the funeral of the children is in Neum, we will declare a day of mourning on that day. I am very sorry. I express my sincere condolences," concluded Jurković.

TCN will be updating this story as things develop. 

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September 25, 2021 - A press conference related to the overnight Zagreb child deaths of the three children of Austrian Harald Kopitz has taken place.

Reporting on the story so far:

Austrian Father Kills 3 Kids in Zagreb, Cites Masons on Facebook

What We Know about Harald Kopitz, Austrian Father Who Killed His 3 Kids 

Below is the transcript in full courtesy of Index.hr.

HARALD KOPITZ, a 56-year-old Austrian from Vienna who lives and works in Zagreb, killed his three children last night in the Mlinovi neighborhood. He strangled twins at the age of seven and a son at the age of four. He then posted a message on Facebook and then tried to kill himself by poisoning.

His friend, who saw a farewell message on Facebook, informed the police about a possible suicide attempt. When police arrived at the crime scene, they found Kopitz and three dead children.

Kopitz was immediately transferred to the KBC Sisters of Mercy hospital, where doctors fought for his life. He is stable now. He faces up to 50 years in prison.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Pension System, Family and Social Policy Margareta Madjeric convened a press conference on the murder.

She made a statement at the beginning.

"We are shocked. It is completely incomprehensible what happened. The situation is terrible. I express my sincerest condolences, primarily to the mother, but also to the whole family," she said.

"The family was at the Social Welfare Center during counseling in 2018. The family divorced. The parents came together, had a joint care agreement and there was no action after that. The center did not have a single indication, either by individuals, mothers or any other bodies that would point to violence,” the secretary of state said.

She called on everyone to always report violence if they have information.

The director of KBC Sisters of Charity Davor Vagić gave a statement about his health condition.

"Absolutely all possible findings are being made due to the suspicion that he was under the influence of psychopharmaceuticals, but we cannot say that with certainty."

Journalists asked him if the perpetrator of the horrific crime was conscious, but he did not answer directly.

"The police are with him and he is under police supervision all the time. You will need to ask the police that part," Vagić said.

He also talked about the condition of Kopitz.

"The first and basic thing is that life functions and everything else is in order and we are sure that he is stable in that regard. Only then will long-term relocation and further care be agreed upon," Vagić said.

September 25, 2021 - The Austrian father that killed his 3 children in the early hours of September 25 has been named Harald Kopitz. Here is what we know about him so far. 

Harald Kopitz, a 56-year-old Austrian from Vienna who lives and works in Zagreb, killed his three children at 2 am on Saturday, September 25. He is said to have strangled his 7-year-old twins and 4-year old son. He also posted a haunting message on Facebook before the crime and tried to kill himself.

A friend who saw Kopitz's farewell message on Facebook informed the police about a possible suicide attempt. When police arrived at the crime scene, they found Kopitz and his three dead children.

Kopitz was immediately transferred to KBC Sisters of Charity. He was hypothermic when he was brought to the hospital and unconscious and thus placed in an intensive care unit. A diagnostic procedure is underway to determine exactly which pills were taken and whether he has any other chronic illnesses. For now, he is stable and under intensive medical care, said the Sisters of Charity Hospital.

What we know about Harald Kopitz so far

Index.hr reports that Harald Kopitz is an experienced financial consultant who graduated from the Donau-Universität Krems and held a Master of Business Administration (MBA), has worked in some leading Austrian leasing companies, but also in management positions at Robert Bosch AG, Alcatel AG, and others. He is an Austrian citizen with a permanent Croatian address, and according to available data, he was born in 1965.

Namely, he worked for 13 years as a member of the Board of Directors and 5 years as the head of international marketing and business development in the CEE region at VB Leasing, 7 years as a manager at Robert Bosch AG, with a focus on development marketing, and for Alcatel Austria and AKG Acoustics.

Before the brutal crime, he posted on social media stating that his girlfriend had left him because his ex-wife was bad to her and that he had run out of money. He also mentions his 'brothers from the Freemasons lodge.'

"Today, September 25, at around 2 am in the center of Mlinovi, based on information about the announced suicide received from citizens due to posts on social networks, a 56-year-old man was found in the apartment who was in poor health when police officers entered.

Three children without signs of life were also found at the scene. The arrival of the ambulance confirmed the violent death of the children, while the man was transported to KBC Sisters of Charity, where he was kept for treatment. The investigation was conducted under the direction of the Deputy County State's Attorney, and a criminal investigation is underway," the Zagreb police said.

At the time of the crime, the children's mother was not in Zagreb, and the children were spending the weekend with their father.

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