Man left his girlfriend to freeze to death

[Trevordidit]

Man left his girlfriend to freeze when she was struggling on a mountain hike.

He's been found guilty of manslaughter.

So many aspects of his account don't make sense - AIBU to wonder if he did it on purpose?

News article

@HelenaWaiting sharetoken here:
https://www.thetimes.com/article/df1a2034-8831-4b6f-aa92-02f3e54f99f4?shareToken=f23fd479c1664b22c93b11353a5a9f44

Yes. This left a nasty feeling.

There seemed to be a lot of ‘missed’ opportunities to keep her safe. Why wouldn’t you want to do everything possible to keep your fellow climber safe?

We live on a hill that is popular with cyclists. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen a man cycling up on his own, pumping his manly way to the top in a show of strength and power and “look at me” etc.

Then, a few seconds later, some poor knackered, unimpressed wife/girlfriend cycles past. The man rarely waits. He’s more concerned with proving to everyone else how fit he is.

I can’t help but think that this has gone on here. She was weaker and prevented him from doing what he wanted. He didn’t care enough about her to put her safety first.

He's a sociopath.

interesting the article has his surname whereas the bbc called him Thomas P and said they werent allowed to say his surname.
what a bastard

Funny. That was my thought too.

She fell ill, he got irritated with her, thought 'fuck you, I haven't come all this way not to reach the summit so sort yourself out', fucked off and left her. Probably to 'teach her a lesson'.

Yep I agree.

🥲 horrendous tragedy for the parents

The Times article mentions a statement from her parents, which said “Our daughter took responsibility for herself. We cannot fault her boyfriend. She had done mountain running and conquered much more difficult peaks than this one”

Have you actually read the article? They make repeated references to it being "too late to turn back". It's not that it was an "easier descent" on the other side. It's that it was the only way back down.

I'm not defending him at all but I am saying that reading comprehension is important so that we judge others by the right markers. Making your way down a mountain by the only possible route isn't "showing off".

I didn't know about his previous partner - jesus christ.

Even if the prosecution were certain it was murder, I see why they went for the manslaughter charge as it would have been impossible to prove intent.

It's a very clever way to kill someone and get away with it.

I've hiked a lot and no way would my partner let me try to scale a mountain of that size in inappropriate clothing, and being up a mountain after nightfall is incredibly reckless. I think he's one of those sorts that push on regardless of the comfort and safety and happiness of those trailing behind them. I've seen it a lot sadly.

They were carrying a special tent and covers for this sort of emergency but they weren't used. She was left exposed. It is hard to know if he is just monumentally stupid, or wanted to punish her for something with tragic consequences.

This part below seems to say that there were issues far earlier in the day:

The court was told that shortly after 5pm on the day of the climb, Gurtner had tried to ring the number 149 — one digit away from the Austrian mountain rescue number, which is 140. At 6.07pm she was then said to have sent her parents a cryptic text message suggesting that the climb was already over and they had descended to safety.
The judge also said that Gurtner’s body had been found in a different location from where Plamberger claimed to have left her, suggesting that she had fallen down a vertical rock face.

Is there any explanation as to why she didn't call for help herself?

Not wrapping her in the blankets is the bit that he is 100% at fault of. There is no logic to that and points to extreme negligence at best. The Times article says post mortem showed she had a virus so suggests she did suddenly get ill.

A lot of inconsistencies. If she really was an experienced climber then why on earth was she wearing such inappropriate footwear? She was an adult - he wasn't responsible for her decisions. But he was responsible for his own decisions, and the decisions he made throughout that night make absolutely no sense.

When women make odd choices (like going out on a difficult climb wearing completely unsuitable shoes, despite being experienced, and presumably owning correct kit) then it's often a sign of ongoing coercive control.

Im really torn on this... particularly the 'he LET his girlfriend climb in unsuitable boots'.... she was apparently an experienced night time mountaineer... maybe less experienced than the boyfriend but not a complete beginner... surely the boyfriend has no responsibility on her footwear, it's like when my idiot husband rides his motorbike in shorts and flip-flops- i dont LET him because he is an autonomous adult who takes responsibility for himself.

Oh wow. I wonder if he had her phone. Or she was really struggling by that time.

On the face of it, I thought it's normal in mountaineering that when one climber becomes ill on the mountain and can't continue, the other has to leave them to try get help. Otherwise they both die. So on the face of it, I was surprised he got prosecuted.

However, it's very strange that (a) the ascended so late in the evening- surely that's suicidal in itself?!? (b) He appeared to have ignored many opportunities to contact emergency services and (c) the testimony of his ex-girlfriend!

Wtaf. I honestly despair - how on earth has he not been put away.

I doubt you’d attempt that summit if you weren’t experienced in some way. He was a qualified guide with far more experience than his girlfriend. He should have known (and indeed maybe he did) a lot of mistakes were made that contributed to her death (footwear, late start, no blanket etc).

I’d actually go further and say this was planned from the outset

What a tragic story. I can see why he’d be convicted, if he was more experienced than her and should have known she’d struggle with that sort of summit. Not sure why she couldn’t call mountain rescue, or why he didn’t do that and stay with her. Maybe he panicked, who knows.

Her parents are just in the depths of grief and perhaps got on with him and can’t fathom why he’d do anything to intentionally harm their daughter.

The late start is so strange. No sane mountaineer would go up so late. Why did they start ascending in the evening? Has he explained that?

Not sure why she couldn’t call mountain rescue,

Presumably she was too unwell to call for help. I thought people become delirious when so high up and through lack of oxygen. He could have called for help though. I can't see an explanation as to why he didn't