U.S. man sentenced to life in prison for murder and rape in attack on 2 American women near famous German castle
An American man was convicted of murder and other charges on Monday for brutally attacking two American women near Germany’s famed Neuschwanstein castle last summer and pushing them into a ravine, fatally injuring one of them.
BERLIN — An American man was convicted of murder and other charges on Monday for brutally attacking two American women near Germany’s famed Neuschwanstein castle last summer and pushing them into a ravine, fatally injuring one of them. He was sentenced to life in prison.
The Kempten state court also convicted the 31-year-old of attempted murder and rape with fatal consequences, the German news agency dpa reported. Presiding judge Christoph Schwiebacher determined that the defendant bears particularly severe guilt, meaning that he likely won’t be eligible for release after 15 years as is usually the case in Germany.
Defendants in the German legal system do not formally enter pleas to charges, but the suspect admitted to the charges when his trial opened on Feb. 19.
Schwiebacher described the defendant as “incredibly callous.” He said that “a release after 15 years would not be justifiable.”
In line with German privacy laws, German authorities did not identify the perpetrator and the victims. However, family and friends at the time said that the victims were 21-year-old Eva Liu, who died, and her friend Kelsey Chang, 22, who survived. Both were recent graduates of the University of Illinois.
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