An 81-year-old man has pleaded guilty to the 1994 sexual assault and murder of 24-year-old American tourist Amy Lopez in Koblenz, Germany, at the opening of his trial on Tuesday.
The defendant, whose name was withheld under German privacy laws, fully admitted to the crime when asked by presiding judge Rupert Stehlin. His lawyer, Volker Klein, confirmed the admission during the Koblenz district court session.
Key details of the case:
- Lopez was killed on September 26, 1994, while visiting Koblenz, a city at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle rivers.
- The prosecution alleges the man, then 49, lured Lopez into a secluded room at Ehrenbreitstein Fortress under false pretenses, where he handcuffed her, sexually assaulted her, and stabbed her nine times in the chest.
- Additional injuries included strangulation with a belt and a blow to the head with a rock after Lopez attempted to defend herself and scream for help.
- Children playing nearby discovered Lopez’s partially nude body shortly after the attack.
Forensic breakthrough and arrest:
The cold case remained unsolved for decades until investigators re-examined old DNA evidence using advanced techniques. DNA recovered from Lopez’s waistband and thigh was linked to the defendant, leading to his arrest in February 2024 at a nursing home in the Koblenz area. He has been held in pretrial detention since.
Trial proceedings:
A total of eight trial days have been scheduled, with a verdict expected in September. Prosecutors have charged the defendant with “killing a person in a treacherous manner and for base motives in order to satisfy his sexual urges.”
Background on the victim:
Amy Lopez, a 24-year-old from the United States, was visiting Koblenz as a tourist when she was killed. Her case became one of Germany’s most enduring unsolved crimes until the recent DNA breakthrough.
Investigative methods:
Authorities re-examined approximately 1,600 samples from Lopez’s clothing and other evidence. The breakthrough came in 2024, 30 years after her death, when new forensic analysis tied the DNA to the defendant.