An Austrian man was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for the murder of his ex-girlfriend as well as her parents, her brother and her new boyfriend. The 26-year-old had pleaded guilty to the five killings, which took place in an early-morning attack last October in the ski resort of Kitzbuehel. The trial judge described the crime as "particularly cold-blooded and treacherous" as some of the victims were attacked and killed in bed. The murderer and the 19-year-old woman had split up a few months previously. He told the court that he had seen his ex-girlfriend and her father the day before the attack and had then returned to the property where they were staying with his brother's gun. After killing his ex-girlfriend's parents and brother he climbed a balcony to reach her and her new boyfriend, who were sleeping in a locked apartment inside the house. Minutes after the killings he turned himself into local police. The case drew widespread media attention and is one of several that have led to greater discussion of violence against women in Austria in recent years. Last month a man was sentenced to 18 years in jail for attempting to kil his wife with a homemade parcel bomb, also in October of last year. Of 65 homicide victims in Austria in 2019, 39 were women -- with three quarters of the victims knowing the perpetrators, according to police statistics. In 2018, 41 of 73 homicide victims were women. jsk/pvh