Sexual assault suspected Unsolved murder of German backpacker remains a mystery
The murder case remains unsolved. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
The family continues to hope for answers 20 years after the crime. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
The murder case remains unsolved. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
The family continues to hope for answers 20 years after the crime. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
20 years after the death of German backpacker Simone Strobel in Australia, one thing is certain: she was killed - but by whom remains unclear. The police are to re-examine two old DNA traces.
07.11.2025, 06:04
07.11.2025, 08:46
dpa
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- Two decades after the mysterious death of young German backpacker Simone Strobel in Australia, a new coroner's inquest has confirmed that the then 25-year-old was murdered - but it remains unclear who killed her.
- A coroner recommended in court on Thursday that the New South Wales Police's unsolved homicide unit re-analyze two previously unattributed DNA traces from the original inquest.
- The backpacker from the district of Würzburg was traveling with her 24-year-old boyfriend in a camper van in Australia in early 2005.
- Strobel suddenly disappeared from a campsite at the beginning of 2005.
Two decades after the mysterious death of the young German backpacker Simone Strobel in Australia, a new forensic investigation has confirmed that the then 25-year-old was murdered - but it remains unclear who killed her. After a thorough examination, forensic pathologist Teresa O'Sullivan has now declared that Strobel was "killed by one or more unknown persons". The expert ruled out an accident, as reported by the British newspaper "The Guardian".
O'Sullivan recommended in court on Thursday that the New South Wales Police's unsolved homicide division should re-analyze two previously unattributed DNA traces from the original investigation - a hair at the crime scene and male DNA on Strobel's clothing.
What happened back then?
The backpacker from the district of Würzburg was traveling with her 24-year-old boyfriend in a camper van in Australia in early 2005. They were joined by another couple from Germany at the beginning of 2005. The four of them were on a campsite in Lismore in the north-east of the state of New South Wales when Strobel suddenly disappeared. There is said to have been an argument beforehand.
A few days later, her naked body was found hidden under palm fronds near the campsite. It quickly became clear that the woman had been the victim of a crime. Shortly after the crime, Strobel's friend Tobias Moran was investigated for the first time.
He was accused of deliberately making false statements during his interrogations in Germany and Australia. In 2022, he was unexpectedly arrested and accused of Strobel's murder. The charges were dropped again in June 2023 because there was insufficient evidence.
Likely sexual motive
An earlier case from 2007 had already expressed a "very strong suspicion" that someone from Strobel's travel group could have been involved in the crime. O'Sullivan has now rejected this: she is not allowed to apportion blame anyway due to changes in the law and does not share the assessment made at the time, she said. There is much to suggest that Strobel was killed outside the campsite and probably sexually assaulted.
Both Moran, who has always denied involvement in the crime, and Strobel's sister Christina took part in the court hearing via video link, according to media reports. Australian broadcaster ABC quoted Moran as saying that the results confirmed what he had always said: "I did not kill Simone."
O'Sullivan emphasized that she could not determine who was responsible for Strobel's death, but expressed her condolences to the family and stressed: "I hope that one day the Strobel family will learn the truth about what happened to Simone."
