Overview
- A criminal trial has opened at the Landgericht Ulm charging a 70-year-old man with the 1985 rape and murder of a 31-year-old woman.
- Prosecutors say the case turned after a preserved DNA trace from 1985 was re-tested and matched the suspect, and a house search in November 2025 yielded additional items now under forensic review.
- The indictment describes that the victim was picked up by car, taken to a forest path near Deggingen, strangled during the assault, struck repeatedly in the head, and found naked with her legs bound by walkers.
- The defendant was arrested without resistance in mid-April and placed in pretrial detention by a magistrate; the trial is set for six hearing days with a possible verdict on November 11, 2026.
- The case highlights how re-analysis of preserved evidence and DNA comparisons can revive cold cases while raising likely defense questions about chain of custody and the interpretation of decades-old forensic material.