- Troy Bohling, 31, has been charged with the murder of 21-year-old Eva Liu
- He is also accused of attempting to murder her boyfriend Kelsey Chang
An American tourist has been charged with the rape and murder of a student who died after being thrown into a ravine near the ‘Cinderella’ castle in Germany.
Troy Bohling was also found to have child pornography on his phone and laptop after he was arrested at the scene of the horrific incident.
The 31-year-old is charged with the murder of 21-year-old Eva Liu.
He is also charged with the attempted murder of her 22-year-old friend Kelsey Chang.
The two recent American graduates had met Bohling while visiting one of Germany’s most famous tourist spots, Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.
Troy Bohling is led away in handcuffs by the police. He fled the scene but was captured after a police operation involving 25 emergency vehicles
The Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. It said Bohling had never met the two women before he came across them on a hiking trail overlooking the castle that was said to be the inspiration for Disney’s Cinderella Castle.
After luring them from a hiking trail to a lookout point, he jumped Ms. Liu and threw her to the ground, where he tried to take off her clothes and perform “sexual acts,” the statement said. When her boyfriend went to try to help, he threw her down a steep slope ‘knowing she would be fatally injured’
The incident occurred in June and Bohling, of Lincoln Park, Michigan, was immediately arrested at the scene.
In accordance with German law, he has not been officially identified by police, but sources have given his name as Bohling.
Other tourists witnessed the attack and later filmed Bohling as he was led away in handcuffs by police.
A statement from the Kempten Public Prosecution Service revealed all the shocking details of the attack.
It said Bohling had never met the two women before he came across them on a hiking trail overlooking the castle that was said to be the inspiration for Disney’s Cinderella Castle.
After luring them from a hiking trail to a lookout point, he jumped Ms. Liu and threw her to the ground, where he tried to take off her clothes and perform “sexual acts,” the statement said.
When her boyfriend went to try to help, he threw her down a steep slope “knowing she would be fatally injured.”
Bohling has been charged with the murder of 21-year-old Eva Liu (left). He is also charged with the attempted murder of her 22-year-old friend Kelsey Chang (right)
The castle where University of Illinois graduate Eva Liu was murdered is in Bavaria, close to the Austrian border
He then raped and strangled Ms Liu before also throwing her body down a slope where she crashed into a tree.
Liu died of her injuries, while her friend survived with head injuries and bruises.
Both women were flown by air ambulance to hospital, where Liu was pronounced dead.
As part of the investigation, the police seized the suspect’s laptop and mobile phone, where child pornography was found.
Under German law, Bohlin has not entered a plea and remains in custody.
A spokesperson for Kempten prosecutors said charges of murder, rape resulting in death, attempted murder causing grievous bodily harm and possession of child pornography would be brought to trial.
Liu, from Naperville, Illinois, and Chang, from Bloomington, Illinois, were on the European trip of a lifetime after graduating from the University of Illinois.
The college confirmed Liu’s death.
No date has been set for Bohling’s first appearance.
Bohling lived with his brother Trevor in a one-story house about twenty minutes from Detroit.
Neighbors describe him as ‘quiet’ and not very friendly and say the brothers were often away for long periods of time.
They assumed the couple worked in oil fields.
When he contacted them, his parents denied he was in Germany.