Overview

• Court psychologist Max Steller told the Traunstein retrial he could find no indicators that the inmate’s account was truthful.
• Steller said the witness’s latest repetition of his claims strengthened his doubts about the statement’s credibility.
• The 25-year-old inmate says the defendant confessed to a sexually motivated attack, rendering Hanna unconscious and throwing her into a river.
• The case was retried after a successful appeal of the March 2024 verdict that brought a nine-year juvenile sentence for the now-23-year-old defendant.
• Prosecutors continue to allege a sexual assault and drowning, while the defense argues an accidental death during a roughly 12-kilometer drift; the defendant remains free as proceedings continue in Laufen.