German bouncer who murdered British heiress in luxury hotel begins appeal

A German bouncer who murdered a British heiress ‘was more worried about his £900 shoes being scuffed than his dead girlfriend’ when police arrived, a Swiss court heard as he appeared to appeal his conviction. 

Anna Reed, 22, was found dead in her luxury hotel room after lover Marc Schatzle, 33, begged staff to call paramedics because she had ‘turned blue’. But this was determined at trial last year to be all part of his attempt to cover his tracks.

During the trial, the Swiss court heard he used Anna’s credit card to go on a lavish spending spree after admitting he ‘liked the finer things in life’.

Then the jury – in the Swiss city of Lugano – was told he had met Anna in Thailand in February 2019 and she had lavished ‘£50,000 on him’ paying for hotels, restaurants, and clothes during their time together.

She was in the Far East after her father Clive had given her around the world ticket as a 21st birthday present and she had also inherited £250,000 from her mother who died in a 2016 domestic accident.

Burly Schatzle callously claimed Anna died when he wrapped a towel around her throat during consensual sex in the bathroom of their five-star hotel La Palme au Lac in picturesque Locarno in April 2019.

But judge Mauro Ermani slammed him as a ‘liar’ adding Schatzle was a ‘dangerous man’ as he sentenced him to 18 years.

His legal team immediately announced they would appeal, and the case began on Tuesday in Locarno, in front of judge Giovanna Roggero-Will.

The court heard Anna had argued with Schatzle the night she died because she had threatened to leave him after being warned he was ‘using her’.

He had told her he was a company director but instead he was jobless and failing to pay maintenance towards his children and who owed thousands to previous girlfriends.

Ms Canonica Alexakis said: ‘He killed Anna because he knew that if wanted to continue living his high life of expensive shopping and luxurious holidays he needed money, her money.

‘His life had taken an upgrade after he met her, and we know from bank records that one day she spent 10,000 Swiss Francs on clothes for him.

‘He killed her in cold blood and hid her credit card so that he could retrieve it later – he says it was an accident, but we have not heard today a word of sorrow or an apology from him today.’

She went on: ‘Let me give you another example, the investigating officer called to the scene has described how when asked for his clothes and shoes, Schatzle had said “Be careful, those shows are worth 1,000 Swiss Francs.”

‘His girlfriend, the woman who he claimed to love had died just a few hours earlier and all he was worried about was his shoes.

‘Anna mattered little to him, if anything at all but her money did. He killed her for her money because he needed it to maintain his lifestyle and she had told him she was leaving him.’

Schatzle defence led by Mr Yasar Ravi claimed Anna’s father had insisted his daughter was ‘happy with her new boyfriend’ and added she ‘had lost her head’ for him.

The court heard Anna told family and friends in Harrogate the days before she died, she intended to ‘stay and live in Switzerland for six months’ – with a trip to Dublin beforehand.

His defence highlighted how staff at the hotel and a restaurant the pair had visited the evening before she died described the couple as ‘happy, in love and joking with each other’.

It was also pointed out there was no physical evidence to support the prosecution theory the pair had argued over money and that Anna was going to leave him.

Jurors listened intently as the defence insisted guests in nearby room at the hotel had reported ‘no moans, cries for help, or slaps or punches’.

Schatzle described to the court how they had returned to their hotel at 2am after spending the night drinking in various bars.

He said he ‘tried to hide her credit card’ in a roof space of the elevator light as a ‘joke’ but it had ‘slipped behind a panel and he couldn’t retrieve it’.

Heavily tattooed Schatzle, who was dressed in dark blue trousers, a denim shirt and black braces told the hearing how he and Anna, from Harrogate, north Yorkshire, practiced rough sex.

He and his lawyer Yasar Ravi claim she died because of a sex game that went tragically wrong and are asking for his murder conviction to be overturned and replaced with manslaughter.

Schatzle told the court: ‘Anna liked erotic asphyxiation. She asked me to do it. I used a towel and my hands, I thought everything was ok and then I saw her with her tongue out.

‘Her face was funny and there was a blue mark on her neck. I tried to wake her up. I gave her CPR and then I went downstairs to get help.’

When the judge pointed out a medical report highlighted Anna would have shown ‘signs of suffering and distress’ Schatzle said he had ‘noted nothing’ apart from a ‘puddle of urine’.

Judge Roggero-Will said: ‘It’s impossible that nothing was noted, the victim gives off signal of suffering, according to medical reports.’

He replied: ‘The only thing I saw was she had urinated and that’s when I stopped.’

But prosecutor Petra Canonica Alexakis slammed Schatzle saying he had been ‘lying for three years and his claims of an ‘accident and sex game tragically gone wrong’ were unfounded.

She said: ‘He is a killer and the first trial confirmed this. The first trial didn’t believe it was an erotic game and an accident.

‘There is nothing to confirm his version of events and he has refused to cooperate with investigators from the beginning.

‘If things had gone as he claims, then one would have excepted his attitude to be different but there is nothing to suggest he and Anna Reed practiced erotic asphyxiation or sadomasochism.’

Ms Canonica Alexakis highlighted how the telephone cable in their room had been found ripped from the wall by investigators and Schatzle had insisted it was already broken.

But she added: ‘We know that’s not true because he ordered room service from reception, and this was confirmed by the hotel staff.

‘Instead, he ripped the cable, maybe Anna was trying to make a call or maybe he did it to stop her calling for help.’

She also highlighted how there were no wounds on Schatzle inflicted by Anna, as she was just 55kg compared to his 105kg and slightly built and that her fingernails were short.

Ms Canonica Alexakis added: ‘Anna hated liars and she hated being lied to and the night she died she had learnt what sort of man Schatzle was.

‘She had been warned about him by a previous boyfriend after he had been tipped by an ex-girlfriend of Schatzle, who said he had manipulated and used her, lying continuously.

‘The night Anna died there was no sex game and there was no attempt at a joke by hiding her credit card in a lift.

‘She died because of an intentional gesture and the medical report revealed wound to her gums consistent with a hand being placed over her mouth.’

Anna was described in court as ‘beautiful and wealthy’ with Ms Canonica Alexakis saying Schatzle had ‘only seven Francs in his account and 20 Francs in his wallet’ the fateful night.

She went on: ‘But he knew that a Visa card Anna had was preloaded with 25,000 Swiss Francs which may not seem much but to a man who has nothing it was enough to use to flee the country.

‘That’s why after killing Anna he set about falsifying the scene. He hid her credit card in the lift to retrieve later because we know guests along the corridor heard heavy footsteps that morning.

‘He put her body in a bath of warm water to delay the time of death, but the paramedics were suspicious when they arrived because of the colour and texture of her skin.

‘Schatzle waited to raise the alarm, maybe as much as two hours because he wanted to take the time to save his own skin.

‘He simulated an accident in the bathroom before raising the alarm but let’s remember how he raised the alarm he took the elevator to the reception.

‘Would you not rush down the stairs if you were in that situation instead of eating for the lift? And it was noticed he had taken the time to tie his shoes and get dressed.’

Ms Canonica Alexakis added: ‘Anna was certainly disinhibited when it came to sex but she was not into rough sex or erotic asphyxiation – her friends and ex-boyfriend have confirmed it.

‘Schatzle was not into sado masochism or rough sex – two of his ex-partners have confirmed this it’s only he who says they were but we all know he is a liar.’

Anna and her sister Millie, now 28, were brought up in upmarket Harrogate, North Yorks.

Their father Clive, 65, runs the famous Copgrove Hall racehorse stud, set in 300 acres and worth £25million.

The family also runs a healthcare company with a staff of more than 1,000, and some of their relatives live in tax haven Monaco.

Anna went to £15,000-a-year Ashville College in Harrogate, and despite the family’s wealth, she had a part-time restaurant job and babysat.

A keen rider, she spent a lot of time at Jennifer Birtwistle’s equestrian centre in Harrogate.

Neither have ever spoken publicly about Anna’s death but in an impact statement given to the prosecutor, Clive and Millie said: ‘Anna was probably the most intelligent member of the family.

‘If there was something ­complicated to be done, she would find the solution.

‘She would light up a room when she walked in and she loved dancing, she loved her friends and she would always take care of them.

‘They knew they could count on her and she was very generous.

‘Anna was also very sporty. She loved horses, swimming and skiing, she was even learning to be a ski instructor. She was a very spontaneous and sociable person.

‘When she died it was her last summer of freedom before getting back to reality as she was going to go to university to study mathematics.’

Poignantly, among her possessions in the hotel room where she died, police found four maths papers that she had taken with her to study while she toured the world.

The case continues.