Twist in Simone Strobel case as boyfriend Toby Moran finally speaks
The long-standing murder investigation of German backpacker Simone Strobel in Australia has faced a major setback as the primary theory against her boyfriend, Tobias Suckfuell, has been undermined. New scrutiny of existing evidence has cast doubt on the police's two-decade-old case.
Why it matters
Illustrates the complexities of cold case investigations and the potential for long-held police theories to be challenged by re-evaluating original evidence.
Police pursued a suspected killer for decades. Now there's a twist in the case. ( ABC News: Sharon Gordon )
Link copied Share Share article For two decades, police pursued a central theory about who killed German backpacker Simone Strobel. After their suspect was finally charged with murder, that theory began to crumble.
Rain and wind batter the campground at Sandon River, on the north coast of New South Wales. Simone Strobel opens her diary and begins to write in German: "After I begged Toby to let Käty + me into the van with him, he flipped out totally."
Tobias Suckfuell is Simone's boyfriend. The young German couple have been travelling around Australia for the past six months in a campervan. They've recently been joined by Tobias's sister, Katrin Suckfuell, and their friend Jens Martin.
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