81-Year-Old Admits 1994 Killing of U.S. Tourist Amy Lopez in Germany
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 18
81-Year-Old Admits 1994 Killing of U.S. Tourist Amy Lopez in Germany
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 18
Summary
An 81-year-old defendant admitted in Koblenz court to sexually assaulting and killing 24-year-old American tourist Amy Lopez, ending decades of denial as his murder trial opened Tuesday.
Prosecutors say he lured Lopez into a secluded room at Ehrenbreitstein Fortress on Sept. 26, 1994, handcuffed and assaulted her, then killed her with nine chest stab wounds, a belt and a rock.
The cold case broke only after investigators reexamined old DNA traces with newer methods, linking DNA from Lopez’s waistband and thigh to the suspect.
Police arrested the man in late February at a nursing home near Koblenz, and he has remained in pretrial detention since.
Eight trial days are scheduled, with a verdict expected in September.