The trial of Harald Kopitz, a 57-year-old Austrian citizen indicted for killing his three children in Zagreb last September began at the Zagreb County Court on Tuesday behind closed doors.

Judge Iva Gradiski-Lovrecek decided to hold a closed trial with the consent of the defendant, the defence, and the prosecution to protect the dignity of the victims and their mother.

Kopitz faces up to 50 years in prison. A verdict could be rendered already on Friday or early next week, it was said.

He is accused of murdering his children, two of whom were seven, while one was four, in a Zagreb flat around 10 pm on September 24, 2021.

According to local media, Kopitz was living and working in Zagreb, where he owned several companies and also worked for a number of larger companies as a financial consultant and negotiator.

At the time of the murders, the children’s mother was working in a hotel in the southern Adriatic city of Dubrovnik and the children were spending the weekend with their father.

An expert examination performed at Zagreb’s prison hospital established that Kopitz was sane when he committed the crime.