FIVE YEARS IN GAOL

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

FIVE YEARS IN GAOL

WOULD-BE ASSASSIN. DR. DOLFUSS’ ATTACKER. Vienna, Nov. 22. Rudolf Dertil, the young man who attempted to assassinate _ Dolfuss, the Austrian Chancellor, in Vienna on October 3, has been tried and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour. Lasting only six hours, the trial was one of the briefest for attempted murder in Austrian history. To emphasise the enormity of his crime, Dertil will have a compulsory fast day every three months, and will have to spend _ ea p“ l October 3—that being the date of the attempted assassination—in a dark celL The prosecution stated that Dr. D°lfuss was wearing a . soft overcoat, which lessened the. penetrative' power of the bullets. They were fired at a distance of half a yard. ■ Dr. Dolfuss gave evidence that he heard the shots before he knew he was hit. Things did not go black before his eyes, as they would have done had he been seriously hurt. Dertil gave evidence reiterating that he shot Dr. Dolfuss to draw attention to the claims of his step-father, Gunther, whom he regarded as the right man to lead Austria in its crisis.' He had no accomplices, either Nazi or Heimwehr, he declared.