- An expert in forensic informatics created data backups from the defendant Samuel’s devices.
- The digital investigation focused on the history of extremist sites and specific files.
- Records with the words Nazism, fascism and killing were found in the facilities.
In the case of last year’s attack on the gymnasium in Spišská Stará Ves in the Kežmarok district, in which two people lost their lives, Radoslav Hromek, an expert from the forensic informatics department, testified on Thursday at the Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok.
His task was to create data backups from mobile devices and laptops, seized during a house search of the defendant Samuel S. The expert examination of the subjects was also aimed at archiving the history of visited Internet pages and files with specific content assigned by the investigator, which were also extremist sites.
Regarding the search for content about extremism, the expert searched for images related to Nazism and fascism. The expert also found records of visited pages where the words Nazism, fascism or killing were used. Key words were entered by the expert based on the instructions of the investigator.
At the main hearing, they also read the witness statements of Samuel S.’s classmates from the grammar school in Spišská Stara Ves from the preliminary proceedings, but the court ordered an information embargo. They are to continue reading the statements on Friday (June 19).
The attack in which the vice-principal and a student died took place on January 16, 2025. Another student was injured by the attacker. The suspect of the crime, an 18-year-old student at the time, was charged by the police with premeditated murder. The court decided to take him into custody, where he remains until now.
The indictment for the particularly serious crime of premeditated murder was filed at the end of January 2026 by the prosecutor of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Prešov. The defendant Samuel S. does not deny the commission of the act, but he does not agree with the legal qualification stated in the indictment.
