Mystery in South Tyrol: 24-year-old found dead next to chainsaw, head almost severed

Chainsaws are usually used to cut down trees. Envato Elements – Steve Mann – Illustration

The victim was found in South Tyrol about two weeks ago. Investigators still haven't been able to figure out what really happened. But the hypothesis of a dare gone wrong is gaining ground.

Mystery in South Tyrol. The Frankfurter Rundschau reports on its website this Saturday, August 31, a case that investigators are currently stumbling over. About two weeks ago, a 24-year-old lumberjack was found dead next to a chainsaw, his head almost severed.

Accident? Suicide? Murder? The man, who had spent the night at a party, was in any case not wearing work clothes but jeans and sneakers. And the chainsaw was covered in blood, although it is not yet known whether it belonged to the victim, who died between 5 and 6 a.m.

A challenge ?

Even if the crime theory is now favored, a rather crazy theory is doing the rounds in Terenten, the village where the young man is from, according to Blick: that of a challenge. The young man may have tried to open a bottle of beer with the chainsaw… “This is perhaps when the tragic accident occurred, according to the local newspaper Dolomiten, our colleagues report. But mystery, no blood was found on the white sneakers.”

“According to information from Ansa, adds the Frankfurter Rundschau, investigators confiscated the surveillance cameras near the young man's apartment. The recordings are being evaluated in order to reconstruct the exact sequence of events on the night of August 17-18."

In a previous article on this case, Blick reported that 2,000 people attended the funeral of the victim, whose death had caused a great stir locally. The young lumberjack was apparently well-liked, "joyful" and “very active in the village”.