A man attacked two young women near Neuschwanstein Castle on Wednesday; according to police, he threw both women down a cliff, 50 meters down. One of the women later died in hospital.
Why? The police are now trying to find out. If you follow the first report from Thursday, terrible scenes must have happened at the Marienbrücke in Schwangau. The historic footbridge is a popular destination: At a height of up to 90 meters, it leads over the Pöllat Gorge and offers a view of Neuschwanstein Castle, actually an idyll from tourism advertising.
According to the police headquarters in Swabia South/West, the two vacationers aged 21 and 22 were also traveling here on Wednesday afternoon, according to dpa information, US citizens. They happened to meet a 30-year-old tourist who, according to the police, was also an American. They joined him on the further way. “The man then steered the two under a pretext onto a trail that was difficult to see, which leads to a viewpoint,” the police noted. There he attacked the 21-year-old woman. When her friend tried to intervene, “he choked her and then pushed her down a steep slope towards Pöllat”. Then he is said to have tried to sexually assault the 21-year-old. Finally, he also pushed her down the slope, where she came to rest about 50 meters next to her friend.
The first emergency calls came in around 2:40 p.m. The Füssen mountain rescue rescued the two women. The 22-year-old was injured but responsive. She was admitted to a hospital. The 21-year-old was flown to the hospital by helicopter with serious injuries, where she died during the night as a result of her injuries.
The alleged perpetrator fled the scene of the crime, but was caught nearby a short time later. The police had apparently quickly initiated far-reaching search measures; the local news portal all in counted 25 police patrols and two police helicopters alone. A service dog handler was also on duty. On Thursday, the district court in Kempten issued an arrest warrant against the 30-year-old, who is now being held in a prison. Despite everything, the presumption of innocence applies to him. According to senior public prosecutor Thomas Hörmann, securing evidence is still a priority. “We are at the beginning of the investigation.”
The Kempten criminal police are investigating murder and attempted murder as well as a sexual offence. The motive is unclear; the whole case seems confused to the point of being unimaginable to those involved. The aim is therefore to reconstruct the course of the crime precisely in order to obtain further information on the motive for the crime. In order to secure tracks around the Marienbrücke, officials from the Alpine Task Force, who are specially trained for steep terrain, are also on the move.
The police are also looking for witnesses who either saw the crime themselves or suspected something before the crime. You can take photos and videos on the Media upload portal of the Bavarian police upload – and thus perhaps contribute to the clarification of the crime. Even if the alleged perpetrator or the two women who were attacked only happened to be seen on the material, this could help with the investigation. “We hope that this will further clarify the situation before and after the crime,” said a police spokesman. So far, only a dozen submissions have been received, it said on Friday morning. The police assume that there is a lot of material, but that it takes some time to reach the people who were there on the day of the crime.