Two women were found lifeless at the bottom of a 50 meter cliff at a German fairytale castle.
An American tourist has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
“The man took a strangle hold around her neck and pushed her down,” the police write.
The idyll at the fairytale castle Neuschwanstein was suddenly broken on Wednesday afternoon by a large police operation. The German police moved forward among the tourists after they were alerted that two women were lying lifeless below a cliff.
The women were American tourists, 21 and 22 years old. Both were taken to hospital, but the 21-year-old’s life could not be saved. The 22-year-old is still being treated for serious injuries.
“Pushed her down a cliff”
According to the investigation, the two women must have met another American tourist. A 30-year-old man whom they met during an excursion around the castle’s alpine environment. They accompanied the man who was to take them to a lookout. But at a hidden path near the Marienbrücke pedestrian bridge, commotion broke out.
The man allegedly attacked the 21-year-old, after which her friend tried to stop him.
“When the 22-year-old tried to intervene, the man took a strangle hold around her neck and pushed her down a steep cliff,” writes the Swabian Southwest police in a press release.
Was flown by helicopter
The police suspect that the man then sexually assaulted the 21-year-old.
“After that, he pushed her down the cliff, where, after falling almost 50 meters, she came to rest next to her friend,” the police write.
She was flown to hospital by helicopter, but died on Thursday as a result of her injuries.
Flee the scene of the murder
The man fled the scene of the murder and the police launched an extensive manhunt for him. He had not gotten far and he could be apprehended near the scene of the crime. The man is suspected of murder, attempted murder and sexual offences.
At the time of the arrest, the man is seen wearing a baseball cap and a long beard. A witness speaks up AP that the man had scratch marks on his face.
– He didn’t say a word. He didn’t open his mouth. He just went with the police.
Neuschwanstein Castle is one of Germany’s most famous tourist destinations. The 19th-century castle inspired Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle and is visited annually by around 1.4 million people, according to The Guardian.