Father of three-year-old Viktoria began preparing to kill her two days in advance — yet was ruled not criminally responsible

According to a new forensic psychiatric assessment, the father of three-year-old Viktoria, who died in Czechia, decided to kill his daughter two days before the crime and prepared for it in advance. Despite this, experts ruled that he was not criminally responsible at the moment the act was committed, prompting police to reclassify the case from murder to an offence under the "intoxication" clause (§360 of the Criminal Code).

According to the 140-page expert report, the girl's father himself told examiners that he "started preparing to kill her about two days before it happened" and that he had known of his intention "roughly two days beforehand." Nevertheless, experts concluded that at the time of the crime — on Saturday, March 21 — he was unable to recognise the unlawfulness of his actions or control them due to an acute psychotic episode.

The role of drugs and doctors' warnings

According to the assessment, the man had used drugs for a long time and, shortly before the tragedy, broke his period of abstinence, triggering a worsening of his psychiatric condition into acute psychosis. Experts stress, however, that he could have foreseen how abandoning abstinence would affect his mental state and was capable of seeking help from doctors or therapists — but failed to do so.

The father's lawyer, Daniel Tobola, refused during a special episode of the "Ve stínu" podcast to explain how advance preparation for murder could be reconciled with complete lack of criminal responsibility at the moment it was carried out. "I understand what you're getting at, but you won't get an answer from me. We're beyond what I'm willing to disclose," he said.

Criticism of the guardianship authority

At the same time, Tobola openly criticised the court's decision to place Viktoria in the custody of her biological father, despite the court being aware of his drug addiction, psychiatric disorder, limited legal capacity and past violent offences. "The guardianship court had an incredible number of warning signs indicating that giving Viktoria to this father was a very bad idea," the lawyer said.

According to Tobola, the question of responsibility should be addressed not only to his client but also to the state authorities that failed to properly monitor such a troubled family.

What the father faces, and the authorities' response

Following the reclassification, Viktoria's father now faces three to ten years in prison instead of the harsher sentence that a murder conviction would have carried. Experts also noted that his being at large poses a serious risk: he does not comply with prescribed treatment, does not abstain from drugs, and has a history of repeated violence. Instead of renewed compulsory treatment, they have proposed placing him in a special detention facility — confinement that could continue even after his main sentence has been served.

Justice Minister Jeroným Tejc has announced plans to amend the Criminal Code so that murder remains classified as murder even in cases where the perpetrator brought on their own state of diminished responsibility through drugs or alcohol. Tobola called the idea "difficult to implement" in practice.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz