Ernst Karl (August 1945 – June 15, 2001 in Krems an der Donau) was an Austrian police officer who was convicted of murdering two burglars.
On the night of April 15, 1968, Karl shot two burglars, Walter P. and Johann Kihsl in the garage of the Tivoli department store in Vienna-Meidling.
The on-duty in-house doctor, Dr. Stippler, administered biperiden on him and ordered for him to be accommodated in a specially secured room and to be strapped to a restraining bed to prevent self-harm.
Judicial officials testified to having carried out checks every half hour and finding him sleeping peacefully, but he was nonetheless found dead the next morning.
[1] The public prosecutor's office brought charges of negligent homicide against the officials and doctors who were on duty at the time of Karl's death.
Dr. Wolfgang Denk, a specialist in forensic medicine, wrote in a testimony dated April 8, 2002: "... Ernst K. died as a result of a intestinal obstruction in an area of pre-existing growths in the abdominal cavity, leading to cardiovascular failure... the death was natural, and the bed's restraining belts were not causally related to the incidence of the intestinal blockage."
The Judiciary's prosecution was suspended on May 15, 2002, the previous surveys, because the prisoner was restrained in the hospital bed for medical reasons, and the death was determined to be due to natural causes.