After 32 years: end to the mystery of the tourist's murder in the ancient fortress in Germany, 81-year-old man confesses
An 81-year-old man confessed at the start of his trial in Germany to the brutal murder of a young American tourist 32 years ago. The murder case of 24-year-old Amy Lopez, whose body was found with severe signs of violence in a historic and touristic fortress in Koblenz in 1994, remained a mystery until the investigation was reopened a few years ago – and with more modern DNA identification technologies, investigators managed to discover the suspect's identity, who was arrested at the beginning of the year in a nursing home.
An 81-year-old man confessed yesterday (Tuesday) at the start of his trial in Germany to the brutal murder of a young American tourist 32 years ago. The murder case of 24-year-old Amy Lopez, whose body was found with severe signs of violence in a historic and touristic fortress in Koblenz in 1994, remained a mystery until the investigation was reopened a few years ago – and with more modern DNA identification technologies, investigators managed to discover the suspect's identity, who was arrested at the beginning of the year in a nursing home. His name remains confidential even after his confession, as part of Germany's strict privacy laws. Lopez, a student from Texas, was murdered on September 26, 1994, while visiting Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, located on the banks of the Rhine River in central-western Germany. The defendant, then 49, rode his bicycle that day armed with a knife and handcuffs, convinced her to enter an isolated room, handcuffed her, sexually assaulted her, strangled her, and hit her head with a stone, finally killing her with nine stab wounds to the chest area. He was convicted in 1999 of attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl, but was not identified as a murder suspect. In 2022, investigators managed to take new DNA samples from the tourist's jeans, and thanks to saliva samples, he was definitively identified as the murderer.