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

Why are you trying to turn her into some weak victim?

Her own mother has said she was a strong, intelligent woman who made her own choices and was not controlled by him.

This is what I find frustrating, when people project and put their own emotion into it instead of sticking to facts.

No where has there been any mention of her being in an abusive it controlling relationship with him.

This reads to me as if he didn't want anything to interrupt the climb. He either assumed she would pull herself together and complete the climb or didn't care if she didn't and I think he may have been angry with her for alerting (or trying to alert) authorities needlessly and took her phone. Maybe he called rescue later on to reassure them they didn't need assistance because he thought she had alerted them earlier? That would explain why the account of the call is odd and why he put his phone on silent. He only called them at 3am when it was clear she was absolutely done, by this point he was so furious with her for ruining his climb that he walked away and left her unprotected. All speculation of course but it fits with his profile.

ETA I see that someone else had alerted mountain rescue already which fit with the suggestion that he didn't want to interrupt the climb and that's why he called them after midnight to tell them they didn't need help.

I think one of the problems - as alluded to by the previous gf who said in her case she was very wound up and screaming - is that in these conditions, with thin air, freezing cold etc, people are not necessarily in their calmest, most rational frame of mind.

You only need to think how grumpy you can get in uncomfortable ski boots on a slightly-too-hard ski run well within the reach of mountain rescue to realise how tempers and logic fray and bend.

I personally struggle to understand why people hanker to put themselves in these potentially traumatic positions.

The fact that he has previous for this exact crime is damning. He knew exactly what he was doing.
I mean, Christ almighty, how unlucky can one man get. 🙄

Bastard.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0k1xkllknmo

The court also heard from Andrea B, a former girlfriend of Thomas P, who described how he had left her alone on a previous tour on the Grossglockner in 2023. She said she had been at the end of her tether, feeling dizzy and her headlight had gone out. She said she was crying and screaming when he suddenly disappeared, walking ahead and leaving her behind

This man is not going to jail, apparently.

This is what I find frustrating, when people project and put their own emotion into it instead of sticking to facts.

That is exactly how I feel about what you are saying.
Why are you ignoring the testimony of the former girlfriend as to his behaviour?
Why are you ignoring so many facts, such as that he told the helicopter they didn't need help, then left her without putting her in a blanket and shelter?

Why are you refusing to accept that she was a victim?

Even if she did make her own choices at the beginning, he didn't appear to have done much to help her when she got into difficulty. And he has "form"

A woman posted a comment on instagram - words to the effect of a hoping such a love never finds her. Poignant.

Again, mountaineering and technical climbing are not the same thing. My ex mountaineers but he could no way summit a mountain like that one. It's far too difficult and demanding. The accused in this scenario had climbed the mountain before and knew this - why on earth did he let his girlfriend wear unsuitable clothing? It as grossly irresponsible for him to allow this. It IS on him as much as he when you're both out there exposing yourself to potentially life-threatening conditions.

And why didn't she put her blanket and bag on if she could do it herself - and why didn't he insist before leaving her? It doesn't make any sense. Either she couldn't do it, in which case he absolutely should have done it for her, or for some reason she wouldn't let him, which seems unlikely. She probably was in hypothermic shock. Maybe you can't 'prove' it, but given she'd been taken ill on an Alp in January in strong winds, it's a pretty strong probability.

And also why is this poster ignoring the fact that while she was experienced in mountaineering in the summer, she was not experienced in the winter and that this was an entirely unsuitable first winter tour.

Sometimes those patio comments are about abusive men. Sometimes they're just oh-so-hilarious "jokey" comments about murdering a husband for not agreeing with his wife over something ultimately quite trivial.

This woman absolutely didn't deserve to be killed. Even if she was abusive (and I'm not for a moment suggesting she was), she wouldn't deserve to be killed or for people to make jokes about it. It just struck me about how these "jokes" are so common on here that all you have to say is "time to get a new patio" and people instantly know what you mean.

My understanding is that he called to say everything was fine when they were being searched out by helicopter lights - he wanted the helicopter to go away.

Exactly what I think.

I'm surprised it wasn't a murder charge. He turned his phone on to silent, didn't use the right equipment to protect her, ignored the rescue helicopter and she suffered a terrifying death.

It definitely sounds as though he could have made better choices and none of us will ever know whether those choices were intentional or not.

But I don’t think it’s fair to manipulate readers and the jury (I know that’s what the media and lawyers are known for) into thinking that this was some weak woman who was dragged up a mountain by a man who wanted to intentionally kill her.

But he cannot be blamed for her wearing the wrong shoes or not having enough food with her etc.

If she was struggling with the cold and wind, then so would he have been.
If she couldn’t even wrap her blanket around herself, then why is he being judged so harshly for not doing things quick enough etc when he would have been struggling to stay alive too but still went and got help.

I think the 5 month suspended sentence was probably the correct sentence given, as there was no proof this was intentional and it sounds like a tragic accident that may have had a better ending if he’d done things differently.

If someone was acting hysterical they can’t be helped until they calm down and I’d probably walk away to.

I am not sure what you are disagreeing with. I stated that he called emergency services. He says he called for help. The police claim he said they were fine and didn't need help. There is no recording of the call so we don't know which account was correct. However, they did NOT call him back. The missed calls were before he called them, NOT after.

I agree that he should have wrapped her in the emergency blanket and placed her in the bivouac bag. Both of these items were in her rucksack so she could have done these things herself after he left, but he should have done them for her before leaving.

The reporting in the press is confused. The evidence given in court was not. The missed calls were before the call at 00:35 when he claims he called for help and the police claim he told them they were fine. This makes sense. If the police believe he told them they were fine, why would they keep calling him?

Agree. One of the possible factors in this case is that, if you are rescued by mountain rescue in Austria, you have to pay their costs. This typically runs to thousands of Euros.

Because it’s really offensive to her memory to suggest that this woman was weak minded, being controlled and a silly little woman who had no right climbing a mountain.

When there is absolutely no evidence to suggest this and people who knew her (not us random strangers on the internet), including her own mother, said she was a strong, intelligent woman, who felt she was experienced and adequately equipped to do this.
And that she had just as much say in their relationship as he did and that there were no signs of abuse or control.

He got a 5 month suspended sentence because even the judge and jury believed that this was not intentional.

People are overlooking the fact that he was in the same weather conditions which would have impacted his ability to make decisions etc, just like it impacted her.

Could he have done things differently - absolutely.
Do I think he deliberately took her up there knowing she’d struggle and maybe die - no, there is nothing to suggest that at all.

I can't help thinking of Joe Simpson's remarkable book, Touching the Void (also an excellent movie).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touching_the_Void_(book)

I am a very experienced mountaineer and I tend to agree with you on everything you say regards personal responsibility etc. Had she hired him as a qualified lead it would be totally different but she didn’t. How you decide ‘how much more experience one party has which then ticks over into ‘they’re responsible’ I’m really not sure

However……what seems really odd to me is that it’s either

a) A total accident, some poor equipment choices by her, some poor rescue decisions by him. If they were both suffering early hypothermia then any sensible decision making can just vanish. People often strip for example. It leads to reply weird behaviour

if that’s the case then making it his fault seems hugely unfair

b) In no way an actual accident. (Which I must admit is my personal view). In which case he should be being properly done for it

they seem to have gone for some weird cross between the two. It’s almost like saying ‘we know this is highly suspicious but we can only do you for this’ and the ‘this’ are things I don’t know he should be help accountable for personally!

I have read it and I think the circumstances were rather different.

It’s worth noting that helicopter rescue in Austria is not covered under the country’s public insurance. Without rescue insurance or an alpine club membership, it can cost thousands of dollars, and in cases of gross negligence, rescued parties are charged the full cost of their rescue.)

Interesting

I wonder if they checked whether he had taken any life insurance out on her.

Taking my dog out to her business in freezing UK wind is enough adventure for me. The lunatics who volunteer for extreme climbing are off the chart for my little brain.