Overview

• The 23-year-old defendant appeared as a free man, denied the murder allegations and, according to his lawyers, will otherwise remain silent.
• The defense argues Hanna’s death was an alcohol-related accident and accuses the first trial’s presiding judge and Munich’s forensic institute of partiality.
• Prosecutors continue to allege a sexually motivated attack in which Hanna was overpowered, struck and thrown into a nearby stream.
• The 2024 verdict was overturned after undisclosed emails between the former presiding judge and prosecutors raised bias concerns, and doubts about a key jailhouse witness later led to the defendant’s release from pre-trial detention.
• The court scheduled about 26 hearing days in Laufen with a possible verdict around December 19, as testimony detailed 2,200 interviews and 60 main leads and the victim’s father joined as co-plaintiff while her mother stayed away.