Vienna ice-cream parlor murder suspect must have fair trial, lawyer argues

The lawyer for the Spanish woman accused of murdering two men, hacking up their bodies and cementing them into the cellar of her ice cream parlor in Vienna, has said he will ask that her confession to Italian police not be taken into account during her trial.

Goidsargi Estíbaliz Carranza Zabala, 32, was arrested last Friday in Udine after fleeing the Austrian capital in a taxi. She told Italian police that she shot her German husband in the back in 2008, while he was sitting at his computer, and her Austrian boyfriend last November as he slept, Vienna police said. The Austrian Press Agency quoted her as saying she had "fits of rage" and that both men abused her physically and psychologically. Her last victim allegedly lent her money so she could open up her business.

Her lawyer said that although police statements are considered valid evidence by Italian law, Austrian legislation is different. Carranza's extradition to Austria is likely to take place in late June. "We are trying to get her to Austria relatively quickly, also for the good of the child," said her lawyer in reference to his client's claim that she is two months' pregnant. "We're also pushing for that because internment conditions are clearly better here. There is no women's prison in Udine; that's why she was transferred to Trieste."

Carranza's lawyer also announced legal action against several sensationalist Austrian newspapers for allegedly violating the presumption of innocence in her case. National media have dubbed Carranza "the ice baroness" in a play on words on the German eis which means both ice and ice cream.

The body parts were found last Monday by workers checking the cellar pipes for an air conditioning installation in the hairdresser next door to her own establishment. Carranza fled immediately afterwards, and authorities issued a European search warrant for her.

Carranza, who holds Spanish nationality, was born in Mexico. Her father is a 71-year-old Mexican psychologist and a published author, and her mother is Basque.