An American man has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for the rape and murder of a fellow tourist and for attempting to murder her friend who intervened.
Troy Phillip Bohling, aged 31, met Eva Liu, 21, and Kelsey Chang, 22, also from the US, while hiking to a scenic viewpoint overlooking Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria in June 2023.
Bohling convinced them to leave the public path by claiming he knew a better viewpoint for the 19th-century palace, which is said to have inspired Disney’s ‘Cinderella’ castle.
Once they reached a secluded spot, he assaulted Eva by pushing her to the ground and attempting to undress her, leading Kelsey to intervene.
Bohling then pushed Kelsey down a 165-foot ravine, but she survived with a severe head injury after becoming caught on a tree branch.
He proceeded to rape Eva, strangle her, and throw her down the ravine, resulting in her death later that day in the hospital. A German court determined that Eva would have died from strangulation alone.
Investigators found evidence on Bohling’s phone, including videos of violent, inappropriate and footage of him choking Eva with his belt.
During the trial, Bohling did not dispute the murder charges but argued for a non-aggravated classification, which would have granted him parole after 15 years. However, the judge deemed the crime to be of ‘severe gravity,’ necessitating a hearing in 2039 to determine his further imprisonment.
Bohling’s defence team mentioned that he would serve at least 15 years in Germany before any potential extradition to the US, where he is originally from, although they advised against this due to the superior conditions in German prisons.
Due to Germany’s strict privacy laws regarding defendants in criminal cases, the killer’s name was not disclosed locally.
Eva and Kelsey were on a post-graduation trip from the University of Illinois, where they earned degrees in Computer Engineering. Her alma mater described Eva as a dedicated and academically talented student.
The mayor of nearby Kempten commented that the area had never experienced such a tragic incident before.
