List of women killed by partners keeps growing

The crime had been foretold in early September: The 30-year-old truck driver had threatened his former partner, 43-year-old Dora Nastouli, with a kitchen knife. The perpetrator was arrested the same evening. The next day, both of his hunting rifles were confiscated. The case, however, was not heard in court immediately, as the law requires in similar cases.

Nastouli is said to have initially accepted the request of the accused for criminal mediation. The adjournment was granted and restrictive conditions were imposed against him. She believed, according to people familiar with the case, that the unbearable pressure he put on her could be relieved in this way. They had been separated for about a year and a half, but he still wanted to control her.

The out-of-court mediation ultimately did not proceed. The harassment by her former partner was constant, as were the...