Trigger Warning: This article contains references to alleged sexual assault connected to a violent homicide that some readers may find distressing.
He lived freely for over three decades after s*xually assaulting and brutally murdering a young tourist in Germany.
A 32-year-old cold case has finally been solved after an 81-year-old man confessed to s*xually assaulting and killing an American tourist in Germany at the opening of his trial on Tuesday.
According to the German news agency dpa, the defendant, whose name has not been revealed due to the country’s privacy rules, admitted to killing Amy Lopez, a 24-year-old student from Texas, in 1994 in the western German city of Koblenz. The unidentified man is referred to as Hans S by some German outlets.
Prosecutors have accused him of “killing a person in a treacherous manner and for base motives in order to satisfy his s*xual urges.”
The crime occurred on September 26, 1994, when Lopez was visiting Koblenz, Germany, as a tourist. According to Koblenz prosecutors, the then-49-year-old man lured her into a secluded fortress room in Koblenz, allegedly handcuffed her, s*xually assaulted her, and killed her with a knife.
She was allegedly strangled with a belt, struck on the left side of her head with a rock, and stabbed nine times in the chest, prosecutors said.
Germany had this guy’s DNA on file since 1999. It still took them until this year to tie it to a murder he did in 1994.
An 81-year-old admitted Tuesday to killing Amy Lopez, a 24-year-old American tourist from Texas, at Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Koblenz. Prosecutors say he… pic.twitter.com/M5Hcaeiahq
— IredcapI (@IredcapI) August 18, 2026
Her body was discovered shortly after the attack by children playing nearby.
The cold case remained unsolved for decades until a tiny DNA trace from Lopez’s clothing, secured in 1994, was reanalyzed using modern methods, ultimately leading to a breakthrough. The results found male DNA on the victim’s waistband and thigh.
According to the BBC, four years ago, fragments of skin found on Lopez’s trousers also allegedly matched the man after he voluntarily provided a saliva sample previously during the probe.
This little movement in the cold case led to the arrest of the now 81-year-old man at a nursing home in Koblenz in late February this year. He has been held in pretrial detention since.
“Methods have improved since the crime. What is possible today would have been less so in 1994,” CBS News quoted Chief Public Prosecutor Manfred Mannweiler as saying.
“This case should make it clear to everyone that law enforcement authorities do not rest as long as a serious crime remains unsolved. Such cases are not forgotten. Not even after 32 years.”
According to the BBC report, the man had previously been convicted in 1999 of s*xual offense but there wasn’t sufficient evidence to link him to the 1994 case.
Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public record.
