Investigator convinced: friend “probably” perpetrator
Germans killed 20 years ago: family speaks out
Updated on November 15, 2024 – 5:08 p.m. Reading time: 2 min.
Simone Strobel‘s siblings, speak to journalists outside Lidcombe Coroners Court.” title=”Christina Strobel (l) and Alexander Strobel, Simone Strobel’s siblings, speak to journalists outside Lidcombe Coroners Court.” width=”16″ height=”9″ class=”bg-[url:var(–lqipURL)] bg-cover bg-center flex w-full max-w-full h-full” decoding=”async”/>
Christina Strobel (l) and Alexander Strobel, Simone Strobel’s siblings, speak to journalists outside Lidcombe Coroners Court. (Source: Bianca De Marchi/AAP/dpa)
Simone Strobel was killed in 2005. No perpetrator has yet been caught. A new hearing is now taking place.
Two decades after the mysterious death of German backpacker Simone Strobel in Australia, her relatives continue to wait for answers. At a new hearing at Lidcombe Coroner’s Court in Sydney since Monday, previously unavailable evidence was examined in order to solve the murder case of the teacher from Lower Franconia. The victim’s siblings, Christina and Alexander Strobel, were also guests. At the end of the five-day investigation, Strobel’s sister spoke tearfully to Australian broadcaster ABC.
The murder changed the family’s life forever “in the most radical way,” said Strobel. “My parents…became mere shadows of their former selves, sinking deeper and deeper into despair.” She also talked about the extremely close bond she had with her sister. “This loneliness will never end,” she stressed, adding that she now knows that “the unthinkable, the worst thing that can happen, can become reality overnight.”
The then 25-year-old backpacker from the Würzburg district was traveling in a motorhome in Australia with her 24-year-old boyfriend at the beginning of 2005. Another couple from Germany joined them when they were at a campsite in Lismore, New South Wales, when Strobel suddenly disappeared. According to reports, there was an argument before.
A few days later, her naked body was found hidden under palm fronds near the campsite. It quickly became clear that she had been the victim of a crime. Shortly after the crime, there were investigations against Strobel’s friend, who was accused of giving false information during interrogations in Germany and Australia.
In 2022, Strobel’s friend was suddenly arrested and accused of murder. The charges against the now 42-year-old were dropped in June 2023 due to insufficient evidence. Dave Mackie, an officer in charge of the investigation, testified at the new hearing that despite a lack of evidence, it was “likely” that Simone Strobel was killed by her boyfriend. You can read more about the case here.
Strobel’s partner at the time always denied his involvement. He has lived married in Australia for years. “There is no doubt that on the night of Simone’s disappearance there were men with serious criminal pasts loitering nearby,” the 42-year-old’s lawyer said at the hearing. Investigating officer Teresa O’Sullivan will now examine all new evidence and decide how to proceed.
