An American man today admitted to charges of murder and rape after he allegedly pushed two U.S. tourists down a ravine near Germany’s Cinderella castle last year.
On Monday, Troy Bohling, 31, admitted to charges of murder, rape with fatal consequences, attempted murder, and possession of child porn at the start of his trial in Germany. He was not named locally because of the country’s privacy laws.
The attack happened on June 14 last year near the Marienbruecke, a bridge over a gorge close to the castle that offers a view of Neuschwanstein castle.
Prosecutors say the defendant met by chance the two female tourists, Eva Liu and Kelsey Chang, aged 21 and 22, on a hiking path and lured them off the trail.
He attacked Liu first, attempting to undress and rape her before pushing her companion off of a slope with a 165ft drop, which caused her significant injuries.
During the course of the investigation, authorities found Bohling’s laptop and cellphone contained child pornography.
Defendants in the German legal system do not formally enter pleas to charges.
‘The defendant has committed an unfathomable crime,’ defense lawyer Philip Mueller said in a statement. The defendant, whose name hasn’t been released in line with German privacy rules, confirmed that his lawyer’s statement was correct but did not answer any questions.
A verdict in the case is expected in March.
Authorities say the women didn’t know the man before they met near Neuschwanstein. The suspect was arrested shortly after the attack.
Liu, from Naperville, Illinois and Chang, from Bloomington, Illinois, were on a European trip of a lifetime, having graduated University of Illinois.
The two recent graduates met Bohling as they visited the Neuschwanstein castle.
When Chang tried to help her, a scuffle ensued Bohling allegedly pushing her down a steep slope. She fell about 165 feet and sustained a head injury, bruises, and grazes but survived.
The suspect, from Lincoln Park, Michigan, then allegedly strangled Liu until she was unconscious and raped her, prosecutors said, before pushing her down the slope as well.
When mountain rescue workers found the two women, Chang was injured but able to talk.
The rape victim was seriously injured and taken by helicopter to hospital, where she died later that night as a result of her injuries.
Other tourists witnessed the assault and later filmed Bohling as he was led away in handcuffs by police.
Bohling photographed and filmed key scenes of the crime, German daily Bild reports.
The rescue operation and his subsequent arrest took place in front of hundreds of tourists, according to the publication.
Bohling lived with his brother Trevor in a single-story house about 20 minutes from Detroit.
Neighbors described him as ‘quiet’ and not very friendly and said the brothers were often away for long periods of time.
They assumed the pair worked in oil fields.
The brothers mostly stayed inside, only being seen outside to ‘walk their cat on a leash in the garden’, the neighbor added. ‘The family is weird.
Troy would never look you down in the eye when he came and went.
‘I’m shocked what he’s been accused of, I’m scared he may have done stuff here and no one has figured it out yet.’
In June, Mary Bohling, his mother, told Bild: ‘My son is not in Germany at all. We have to find out what happened – we won’t comment.’
Bohling attended Allen Park High School near Detroit with former classmates describing him as rather shy and inconspicuous.
Another person who only knew him briefly says that the alleged killer spent a lot of time playing the role-playing game ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ in the library in his hometown of Allen Park.
His former classmates at Allen Park High School near Detroit said he was a shy and inconspicuous boy that played in the school band and had a girlfriend.
A former friend of the alleged killer, who he had spent several summers in a camp with, said he was ‘introverted, shy, quiet and a little peculiar’ but ultimately friendly.
He said doing something like the attack in Germany would be unlike ‘the Troy he knew ten years ago.’
Court records show that in 2016 he faced a charge of embezzlement, but there was no prosecution and the matter was dropped.