Stefanie Pieper Buried Alive in Suitcase? Prosecutors Reveal Shocking Details of Influencer’s Murder Plot

According to new evidence, authorities believe that Austrian beauty influencer Stefanie Pieper, who was stuffed in the suitcase by her killer, might have been alive and struggling for air when her remains were hidden.

Stefanie Pieper, 32, was found with marks on her face that authorities now believe could have resulted from her attempting to bludgeon her way out of the suitcase that became her coffin when she was buried last year.

“It is quite possible that she was still alive when she was placed in the suitcase,” the Graz Public Prosecutor’s Office said, as reported by the Sun.

“The autopsy could not definitively determine when the young woman died. However, it is equally possible that she was killed by strangulation beforehand."

Pieper’s body was discovered about a week after she was killed and buried. Investigators initially ruled that she had been strangled and suffocated to death. She was last seen alive at a Christmas party on November 23, 2025. She allegedly left the party and sent a series of eerie text warnings to a friend, writing, “A creep in the stairwell.”

Pieper had a photoshoot scheduled for the next day, but she did not show up. The photographer went to check on her at her apartment and then notified police after she was not found.

Pieper’s 31-year-old ex-boyfriend, Patrick M., was quickly arrested and questioned. A few days later, authorities went to a location in a Slovenian forest where her body was ultimately found. Patrick reportedly confessed to the crime, with his attorney stating that he was high on cocaine at the time and had been left despondent by his actions.

“My client is completely broken; he deeply regrets his crime,” Patrick’s attorney said, as per the reports of the Sun.

“He can’t understand how he could have been capable of killing the woman he loved more than anything,” his attorney added.

Patrick, the suspect in Pieper's killing, was arrested in Slovenia and later extradited to Austria. He remains in custody and is expected to appear in court later this year.

Earlier autopsy reports revealed that Pieper was subjected to some sort of violence before she was placed into the suitcase and buried in the forest. According to People, the prosecutor’s office mentioned that Pieper “had been subjected to violence before her death.”