Xhemail M., a 36 year old ethnic Albanian citizen from Macedonia who stabbed his 32 year old wife Zemira K. to death in the Austrian city of Tulln, was a gambler and violent spouse who was also interested in Islamist ideology, Austrian police informed.

Yes, I wanted to kill her, Austrian police spokesman quoted Xhemail as saying during the interrogation.

The horrific murder happened on Monday, in a parking lot in the city where the wife was leaving a supermarket. Xhemail spent hours waiting for Zemira to show up and then stabbed her with a knife in the neck and killed her on the spot. The attack was his revenge after Zemira took the two children aged six and 10 and left Xhemail because of his frequent jealous rage attacks when he would beat her up.

His family informs that Xhemail had gambling problems, and he also had a ban on entering Austria and a 2017 conviction for violent conduct.

Despite this, he worked construction jobs in the country and was able to harass his wife. One of the photographs after the murder shows him holding his finger in a gesture associated with the Islamic State, indicating that he may have been radicalized.