Vienna axe murderer lived with corpse for months says police

Police in Austria on Tuesday accused a man of slaying his flatmate with an axe and then living with the body for more than three months.

The 52-year-old suspect, a German national, was arrested on Monday. When police entered his flat in Vienna, they found the victim under a blanket in the living room, the axe that was used to kill him still sticking in the decomposing body.

The perpetrator, who is thought to be suffering from a mental illness, has admitted the crime, police said.

A similar case has come to light across the border, in the Czech town of Bystrice pod Hostynem, where another man has been accused of living with two corpses for weeks.

The 35-year-old man has admitted killing his older brother in an argument that took place around Christmas, according to police.

Shortly afterwards, the mother of the brothers died of a natural cause.

"When the smell of the decomposing corpses became too strong, the suspect simply moved to another room," a police spokesman said Tuesday.