As of: February 27, 2024, 11:06 a.m
By: Matthias Matz
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As on the first day of the trial, Troy B. hides his face behind a folder.
In front is his defender Alexander Stevens.
© Matz
The trial against Troy B. continued on Monday at the Kempten regional court with a meticulous reconstruction of the crime by a digital forensic expert.
Kempten/Schwangau -
The trial against the American Troy B. continued on Monday at the Kempten regional court with a meticulous reconstruction of the crime by a digital forensic expert.
The interrogation of the investigating judge also revealed new details about the violent crime near Neuschwanstein Castle.
The reading of letters from the relatives of the deceased created emotional moments in the hall.
As the investigating judge who heard Troy B. shortly after the crime in June of last year reported, the 31-year-old American said in his first interview that the two women had attacked him.
During the ensuing fight, however, he managed to fend off the two students and push them down the slope above the Pöllat Gorge.
While Kelsey C. survived the fall with minor injuries, her friend Eva L. succumbed to her serious injuries in the hospital later that evening.
However, the cause of the student's death was the injuries that B. had caused her by strangulating her for several minutes.
The professor who performed an autopsy on L. in Munich left no doubt about this.
As the 55-year-old emphasized several times, L. died from a massive lack of oxygen to the brain and a subdural hematoma.
Both injuries were caused by massive force against her neck.
However, the injuries from the fall into the ravine were not life-threatening, according to the medical examiner.
An officer from the police Alpine task force described how lucky Kelsey C. was to survive the 50 meter deep fall into the gorge.
Last June, he was responsible for securing evidence in the gorge - especially clothing - and so abseiled down to the spot where a piece of dead wood stopped the women's fall.
Dangerous terrain
Using numerous photos, he explained the danger of the slope.
“This has nothing to do with normal mountaineering,” he said.
“You can't go down without ropes.” When asked by B's defense attorney whether the danger of the steep slope for the defendant could have been assessed from the crime scene, he replied: “From there you can definitely see that it is a cliff edge and that it goes straight down there.”
The questioning of a digital forensic expert from Garching took up a lot of space on this second day of the hearing.
Together with colleagues, he spent over 250 hours evaluating the accused's two cell phones and laptops.
The 40-year-old was able to meticulously reconstruct the day of the crime from the defendant's perspective, primarily using cell phone data.
Accordingly, Troy B. first visited the Auwald and Schöllang Castle near Fischen in Oberallgäu in the morning.
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At 1:05 p.m. he reached the parking lot at Neuschwanstein Castle.
At 1:34 p.m. he finally passed the Marienbrücke before he met his two later victims for the first time at 2:22 p.m.
Just minutes later, at 2:34 p.m., he recorded a short video showing him kneeling on Eva L.
The young student is already unconscious, her head turned to the left.
There is blood visible and her top is pushed up.
At 2:38 p.m. B. films L. abusing him and trying to pull his pants down.
The evaluation also revealed that the American then moved the files to an encrypted folder using the “Gallery Vault” app.
At 3:01 p.m. he activated Google Maps for the last time to navigate back to Marienbrücke.
Family in deep mourning
Two letters that the co-plaintiffs presented in the afternoon illustrate the impact Eva L.'s death has on her family.
In the letters, L.'s parents and her twin sister describe their deep sadness and despair after the crime, from which they still suffer today.
Both the parents and the twin sister describe the person killed as a generous, warm-hearted and empathetic person who should have taken up a position as a software engineer at the tech giant Microsoft shortly after the trip to Europe.
“She had a great future ahead of her,” her father wrote.
Troy B., who brutally destroyed them, had to fight back tears for several minutes while reading the letters.
It was also unusually quiet in the meeting room.
The trial will continue tomorrow, Wednesday, with the hearing of further witnesses.
The pleadings from the public prosecutor and defense are expected next Monday, February 28th.