The trial of a woman suspected by police in a murder spree spanning more than a decade, opened on Monday in Krems, 30 miles west of Vienna.
Elfriede Blauensteiner, 66, dubbed the "black widow" by the Austrian press, is charged with poisoning pensioner Alois Pichler with fatal doses of medication. Police are still investigating three other deaths possibly relating to the woman.Blauensteiner arrived at the court wearing a beige suit and clutching a metal crucifix. "My hands are clean. I've nothing to hide," she told reporters, smiling.
Asked if she would plead guilty, she said: "I would never kill. I believe in my innocence."
Police said Blauensteiner confessed to five murders during the initial investigation but later withdrew the confession.
"I confessed because the police questioned me for so long. I would have confessed to anything," she told journalists.
Police suspect she killed for money to finance a gambling addiction.
A bespectacled pensioner of matronly appearance, Blauensteiner told reporters she enjoyed nursing older men and that it was a coincidence some of those she cared for had died.
"I like nursing people. If I picked younger men they would have wanted my body, and I prefer older men, as they are more grateful," she said.