In Austria, general practitioner Lisa-Maria Kellermayr was found dead in her practice on Friday morning. She had previously closed her practice until further notice because she had received death threats and hate messages from radicalized opponents of the Corona measures for months. That's why she "can no longer afford the costs of security measures," she wrote on her website.
On Thursday she added her entry there: "From today's perspective, I can not say whether, when or how normal operations can be resumed."
The responsible public prosecutor's office in Wels stated to WELT that there were no signs of external influences, and farewell letters were also found at the scene of the crime; The public prosecutor's office did not want to provide any information on the content. Because of these circumstances, a suicide can be assumed and an autopsy or further investigations are therefore not planned, said the media spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office.
The Austrian Minister of Health Johannes Rauch (Greens), who recently announced the abolition of compulsory vaccination in Austria, was dismayed at the news of the doctor's death. “Death threats against her and her staff were brutal reality. Hate against people is inexcusable. This hate has to stop," he wrote on Twitter.
Kellermayr is said to have received police protection for a long time, but says he also spent around 100,000 euros on protective measures himself. The police are still investigating the threatening letters against unknown persons. The death of the woman does not change anything in these investigations, according to the public prosecutor's office, one is still waiting for the final report from the police.
The doctor herself wrote on Twitter on Thursday that she had received insufficient protection from the authorities. She said there, among other things, that only her surgery (meaning her practice) was occasionally observed by patrol cars, but that she had not even been offered personal protection.
The doctor, who described herself as a "passionate country doctor", was extremely active on Twitter. There she criticized what she saw as a misguided and too lax anti-corona policy in Austria, promoted vaccinations against severe corona courses and scoffed at charlatanism, for example when pharmacies sold high-priced “mask tea” for the care of the mouth and throat offered to wear a mask.
On the internet, she was targeted by radicalized opponents of vaccination and deniers of the corona virus. Some of the threats that Kellermayr received she made public on Twitter and her website. A person named "Claas" threatened Kellermayr more frequently; among other things he wrote to her:
"Hello you stupid piece of shit! (...) you won't get me anyway. Instead, I've now decided to get you. Of course, while I'm at it, I'll slaughter all the other employees in your practice as well. I am armed and have a shotgun.”
Do you have suicidal thoughts or have you noticed them in a relative/acquaintance? Help is available from the telephone counseling service: anonymous advice is available around the clock on the free numbers 0800/111 0 111 and 0800/111 0 222. Advice is also available online at telefonseelsorge.de. A list of nationwide help centers can be found on the website of the German Society for Suicide Prevention.
