Johann Nelböck

Murderer

1known / alleged victims

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Case Facts

Gender: male
Country: Austria
Location: Vienna, Austria
Date of birth: 1903
Age at first offence: 33
Characteristics: history of mental illness, motive unclear
Victim profile: Moritz Schlick (the founder of the group of philosophers and scientists known as the Vienna Circle)
Method of murder: Shooting
Date(s) of murder: June 22, 1936
Years active: 1936
Date of arrest: Same day
Status: Died in custody
Sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in 1936; paroled after two; died in 1954

Case Summary

Background

Dr Johann Nelböck (1903–1954) was an Austrian former student of Moritz Schlick, the founder of the group of philosophers and scientists known as the Vienna Circle.

Nelböck had twice been committed to a psychiatric ward for threatening Schlick.

The offence

On June 22, 1936, Nelböck shot Schlick in the chest and killed him on the central staircase of the University of Vienna.

Investigation

At Nelböck’s trial for the murder of Schlick, besides some allegations of personal injuries, a significant part of his defence was the claim that Schlick’s philosophical arguments had undermined his native moral restraints.

Nelböck claimed that Schlick's philosophy had "interfered with his moral restraint"

Trial

Nelböck was found guilty and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.

Sentencing

He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in 1936.

Appeals

No appeals were mentioned.

Outcome

He was paroled after two.

Aftermath

He became a member of the Austrian Nazi Party after the Anschluss (the unification of Germany with Austria) in 1938.

Moritz Schlick had been characterized in the press as a pivotal figure in disaffected Jewish circles, although he had been a German Protestant from minor Prussian nobility. The murder was applauded by Vienna's Nazis and immediately became a cause célèbre. Not entirely without protest is mentioned.

Nelböck died in 1954.

Other details

The victim was Moritz Schlick, the founder of the group of philosophers and scientists known as the Vienna Circle.

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