It was pure coincidence that the American Eric Abneri met the compatriot on Wednesday afternoon who is said to have killed a tourist at Neuschwanstein Castle and pushed another down a steep slope. “I was with two friends at the castle near the Marienbrücke, when suddenly several police officers led a handcuffed man past me on a hiking trail,” says the 21-year-old New Yorker FOCUS online.
At first, Abneri had no idea that he had met a man there who had apparently already been on the run after the crime. But he immediately noticed that the 30-year-old was injured. “I saw scratches on his face and neck. He had a troubled expression on his face. When I found out from the media during the day what had happened nearby, I felt completely different,” the American describes the terrible incident on Wednesday.
“There are terrible images in my head”
“Of course I then realized that the scratches on their faces and necks must have been caused by the two girls fighting back when the man attacked them and then pushed them into the abyss. Terrible images form in your head, totally disturbing.” He is now on his way to Prague with his friends. But the terrible images that travel with.
In addition, says Abneri, it naturally hits him that the alleged perpetrator and the victims are also American tourists. “But I think that was a coincidence.”
The aim of the attack is said to be a sexual offence
According to the investigations so far, the suspected 30-year-old American is said to have lured two US tourists aged 21 and 22 not far from the Marienbrücke via a beaten path to a lookout point and then physically attacked the 21-year-old.
The public prosecutor assumes that the man wanted to sexually abuse his victims. “We have indications that the motive for the attack is a sex crime. For tactical reasons, we cannot say who the information came from at the moment,” said a spokesman for the Hörmann public prosecutor’s office when asked about FOCUS online.
When the 22-year-old rushed to help the girlfriend who was attacked, the attacker began to choke her and then pushed her down the slope, the authorities said on Thursday. The 21-year-old was also torn into the depths. While the 22-year-old survived the fall, the 21-year-old later succumbed to her injuries in hospital. The 22-year-old is still in the hospital. “She was very lucky and was relatively lightly injured. She has suffered multiple bruises, scrapes and a laceration on her head.”
Police ask tourists to send photos and films
The suspect is in custody on charges of murder and attempted murder. Investigators also suspect an attempted sex crime. With regard to the latter, the investigations would have to be awaited, said the prosecutor. It is still not possible to provide reliable information on this at this time.
Investigators continue to ask tourists to send in photos and videos. The crime scene is at a viewing point on the eastern side of the Marienbrücke, i.e. on the opposite side of the bridge from Neuschwanstein Castle. Here is the direct link.