In October 1985, a US soldier stationed in Göppingen raped a 29-year-old woman and tried to kill her. Decades later, a DNA sample brought investigators on the trail of a 65-year-old man. He also met his victim in court.
Almost four decades after the crime, the attempted murder of a young woman in Göppingen could finally be solved. A 65-year-old man from the USA is currently standing before the Ulm District Court. The former US soldier is accused of raping a 29-year-old woman while stationed in Göppingen on an October night in 1985. Then he is said to have tried to kill the woman with a branch.
According to the indictment, the then 28-year-old accused initially threatened the woman with a knife and dragged her into a park, according to a spokesman for the court. There the soldier is said to have raped, choked and beaten the woman several times. When he lets go of her, the woman pretends to be unconscious out of fear. But the perpetrator comes back and repeatedly hits the head of the 29-year-old with a branch about three centimeters thick in order to kill her. When the woman then pretended to be dead, the man dragged her into a car and took her to a ditch just a few kilometers away. There he covers her with branches and leaves and drives off. That’s how the prosecution describes it.
Almost completely undressed and covered in blood, the young woman managed to drag herself to a nearby property. She suffered numerous injuries – including broken ribs, a ruptured eardrum and swelling.
The search for the perpetrator was unsuccessful for decades. A DNA match finally leads the police to the former US soldier. He was extradited from the US and has been in custody ever since. Since the offenses of rape and dangerous bodily harm are statute-barred, the charge is attempted murder. There is no statute of limitations for acts such as murder and attempted murder. The injured party is a joint plaintiff in the process. Four days of negotiations are planned until mid-November.