Steirerwut (2020)

In their fourth case, Sandra Mohr and her superior, Sascha Bergmann, from the Graz State Criminal Police Office are called to the eastern Styrian hill country to investigate the apparent suicide by hanging of farmer Johann Hödlgruber. However, after Eva Merz from the forensic team examines the scene, it turns out to be murder. Bergmann had actually intended to spend a spa holiday there with Eva, and local police officers Karl Fasching and Leo Leitner need their help. Just the day before, the police had stopped Hödlgruber while he was driving drunk. No suicide note was found, and his prostate cancer was considered cured. The victim’s neck was not broken, as would have been expected given the length of the rope. Hödlgruber had conflicts with many people, so there are several suspects. Among them are Leo Leitner’s parents, who had argued with Hödlgruber for years over a boundary stone. Hödlgruber’s son Peter, who has no alibi for the time of the crime, and his brother Ernst, who felt cheated out of his inheritance, also had motives. In addition, spa owner Martin Wallner wanted to build a golf course, but the elder Hödlgruber was opposed. The suspects also include Peter’s lover Lotte, who keeps alpacas on the neighboring farm, and her employee Jens Lodenast, known as Jenser. According to the elder Hödlgruber, Jenser had wanted to poison the alpacas. The elder Hödlgruber was also against Peter and Lotte’s relationship. After a shootout with Ernst Hödlgruber, who had refused to be questioned by the police, Sandra Mohr is admitted to hospital alongside Ernst. Sascha’s son Daniel visits her there. Mohr then investigates temporarily from the hospital via video link. A reconstruction of the possible sequence of events suggests that the killer probably used a tractor to move the victim into the position in which he was found; otherwise, given the victim’s weight, two people would have been needed. After forensic investigators find evidence suggesting that Peter Hödlgruber moved his father into the position in which he was found to make it look like a suicide, Peter is arrested. His lover Lotte gives him an alibi, saying he was with her at the time of the crime. Sascha Bergmann then suspects that Jens Lodenast may have committed the murder and framed Peter Hödlgruber by tampering with the evidence. A radar photograph shows that Peter Hödlgruber was 150 kilometers from the crime scene at the time of the murder. Mohr learns by chance from Ernst Hödlgruber that years earlier Johann Hödlgruber had caused an accident while drunk. Helga Leitner, Leo’s wife, was injured in it and lost her child as well as her zest for life. At the time, an out-of-court settlement was reached. On the night of the crime, Leo told Helga that Johann Hödlgruber had once again been shielded by station commander Karl Fasching after driving drunk. Leo Leitner eventually says that on the night of the crime he had only intended to teach Johann Hödlgruber a lesson. He found the drunken Hödlgruber asleep and a rope nearby, so Leo Leitner hanged Johann Hödlgruber in the barn.