Thomas Plamberger, 39, received a five-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of gross negligent manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend Kerstin Gurtner on Austria's Grossglockner mountain. The court heard that Plamberger abandoned Gurtner, 33, when she collapsed from exhaustion just 150 feet from the 12,460-foot summit in January 2025.

The prosecution revealed this wasn't Plamberger's first abandonment on the mountain. A former girlfriend, Andrea B, testified that he left her alone during a nighttime descent in 2023, claiming she was too slow. She described being left crying and screaming in the dark when her headlamp failed. The court noted the fatal climb was "1,000 leagues beyond" Gurtner's experience level.

Plamberger claimed the situation spiraled out of control during the ascent, but prosecutors presented webcam footage showing the couple's emergency torches fading after six hours. A helicopter rescue attempt was thwarted by strong winds, and Gurtner was found dead of hypothermia the next morning. The court imposed a €9,400 fine on Plamberger, who plans to appeal the verdict.