- Daniel Troger, 26, was led into court in handcuffs in Hof, in the state of Bavaria
A binman-turned-burglar has admitted to a German court that he raped a 10-year-old girl in front of an 11-year-old boy – hours before she was allegedly strangled to death by that young witness.
Daniel Troger, 26, was led into court in handcuffs in Hof, in the German state of Bavaria, on Thursday to face trial over the rape and death of Lena, 10.
Lena was only supposed to stay at the St Josef Children and Youth Welfare Centre in Wunsiedel for a few weeks while a court decided on whether she could live with her father Werner Z., 51, who was in the middle of a custody dispute with her mother.
The 10-year-old, who enjoyed swimming and horse riding, was taken away from her mother to live at the children’s home after abuse allegations emerged.
The courts refused to award Lena’s father custody immediately, and placed her under the care of the children’s care home in Wunsiedel in October 2022 while proceedings continued.
But it was there she was brutally raped by Troger, before being allegedly strangled to death by her 11-year-old unnamed roommate who is believed to have abused her for the duration of her stay in the children’s home.
The court heard how the defendant had been breaking into construction containers and houses since October 2022 to steal drilling machines and game consoles, with investigators later matching his DNA to that found at the scenes of break-ins.
He was also on the prowl the night he raped Lena, on April 4, 2023.
Police Commissioner Marc H., 43, said that they were able to track down Troger after he stole Amazon Fire TV sticks.
He said: ‘We contacted Amazon to find out whether and where the sticks might be in use. That’s how we came across Mr. T’s address.’
At the start of the trial, the defendant confessed to multiple burglaries and to raping Lena.
Speaking about the evening of her rape and murder, he said: ‘I wanted to steal electrical appliances. I also remembered that there might be a cash box in the house office.’
He claims that he was surprised by the 11-year-old boy on the ground floor and that he sparked up a conversation with him that quickly steered towards themes of a sexual nature.
Troger said that he showed the 11-year-old boy how to masturbate.
Prosecutor Diana Fritzsche alleges that the boy then took Lena into his room and pushed her onto his bed before Troger raped her in front of him before fleeing.
The public prosecutor’s office alleges that the boy then strangled Lena to death using an LED strip.
His DNA was later found on her neck.
The young alleged killer has not been named and is below the age of criminal responsibility in Germany.
Troger claimed that he is innocent in the death of the girl, telling the court: ‘It all lasted a maximum of 20 minutes. At no point did I asked the boy to kill her.’
But the 11-year-old boy claims that he was forced to murder her, with his lawyer Michael Hasslacher saying his client’s statements contradict those of Troger.
The trial is ongoing, with the boy set to testify as a key witness on February 6.
At the time Lena was strangled to death, she and the 11-year-old boy were among a handful of children left at the home because most of the other youngsters living there were on a skiing holiday.
At the time of the girl’s murder, the child and youth welfare centre in the small town of Wunsiedel said it was ‘deeply shocked’ by her death.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the parents, the family, our children and our colleagues,’ it said in a statement.
On its website, the institute describes itself as supporting ‘young people and their families who need help with their upbringing’.
Lena’s brutal murder came just a month after the killing of 12-year-old Luise Frisch, who was found dead in the western town of Freudenberg in March last year after suffering multiple stab wounds.
Her killers, two girls aged, 13 and 12, stabbed their victim 32 times with a nail file before pushing her down a steep embankment in nearby woods.
The classmates also put a plastic bag over Luise’s head before one chillingly told the other to ‘hit her with a stone or she would be lying next to her’.
The pair confessed to the crime but will avoid punishment as they are too young to bear criminal responsibility in Germany.
Police fear Luise may have been alive before she was thrown down the embankment and died from her injuries and the sub zero conditions that hit the area in early March.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
