On 26/11, the body of Danilo Kuzmin, a 21-year-old Ukrainian student studying in Vienna, was discovered in the back seat of a charred Mercedes under a bridge in the Austrian capital. An autopsy revealed the student suffered severe burns to approximately 80% of his body and serious injuries from a blunt weapon, including head trauma and broken teeth. The victim was still alive when the fire erupted, leading to death by suffocation and heat shock.

Danilo Kuzmin was murdered in a burning Mercedes. Photo: NX/Heute

Danilo Kuzmin was murdered in a burning Mercedes. Photo: NX/Heute

Police believe Danilo had told a 19-year-old classmate, now a suspect, about his father's substantial cryptocurrency holdings. His father, Sergey Kuzmin, serves as the deputy mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine. Austrian police allege that a significant amount of cryptocurrency vanished from Danilo's family's digital wallet around the time of the attack.

Danilo was reportedly lured by his friend to a meeting at the underground parking garage of a luxury hotel. Surveillance video from 25/11 showed several men surrounding the victim in the parking area. Witnesses later reported hearing a disturbance and subsequently discovered a large bloodstain on the staircase.

Investigators believe the group beat Danilo, abducted him, and held him in a car for several hours. He was tortured until he revealed the access codes for two cryptocurrency accounts. Afterward, the victim was taken to Vienna's Donaustadt district, forced into the back seat of his family's Mercedes, and the car was set ablaze to conceal the crime.

Experts ruled out a technical malfunction as the cause of the fire, confirming the car had been doused in gasoline. Police found a melted gas can in the back seat and traced its purchase to a Vienna gas station. Surveillance footage from the station captured the 19-year-old suspect buying two cans of gasoline before the murder.

Danilo's family and a close contact filed a missing person report after he suddenly stopped responding to calls. In addition to the 19-year-old, police identified a 45-year-old Ukrainian as a second suspect. International arrest warrants were issued after both individuals fled Austria.

On 29/11, the two suspects were intercepted while attempting to enter Ukraine and were arrested by local police. One of them was found carrying a large sum of USD. Ukrainian officials have requested to take over the case, stating the suspects will not be extradited to Austria but will instead be prosecuted in Ukraine.

This brutal attack mirrors the kidnapping, torture, and murder of a Russian cryptocurrency millionaire couple in Dubai, whose bodies were discovered in the desert in November.

By Tue Anh (Daily Mirror, Metro)