As a young member of the Austrian National Socialist Party, Rothstock was enraged by Bettauer's satire of Nazi anti-semitism in his popular work, The City Without Jews.
On March 10, 1925, Rothstock entered Bettauer's office and shot him five times at point-blank range.
At his trial, Rothstock claimed that his actions were necessary to save German culture from the menace of Jewish degeneration.
His lawyer, Walter Riehl, (himself a Nazi functionary) argued that his client was guilty but insane, with which the jury agreed.
In a 1977 interview on the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, Rothstock reportedly boasted of Bettauer's "extinction".