A German traveler who perished two decades ago was likely the victim of a crime fueled by sexual intent, according to a coroner’s recent findings.
In 2005, Simone Strobel was on a journey through the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales with her boyfriend and two friends when she vanished.
Her body, unclothed and concealed beneath palm leaves, was discovered six days later at a sports field in Lismore.
Despite a prior investigation, the naming of several suspects, and the offer of a million-dollar reward for leads, the circumstances surrounding her demise remain shrouded in mystery.
Today, conclusions from a second coronial inquest were revealed.
Although the inquest did not pinpoint an exact perpetrator or the method of death, it shed light on the potential motives behind the crime.
“It is likely Simone’s killer had a sexual motive,” Magistrate Teresa O’Sullivan wrote in her findings.
“It is probable her clothes were removed for a sexual motive before her body was pushed through the wire fence and concealed under palm fronds.
“I am unable to find … that Simone was not sexually assaulted.”
This differed from the findings of the 2007 inquest, which said Strobel was not sexually assaulted and ruled out sexual or other forms of gratification as a motive for her death.
The earlier inquest also found she likely died of suffocation or smothering asphyxia at the hands of her killer, but O’Sullivan was not able to find that as the most likely cause of death.
Instead, she delivered open findings that Strobel died as a result of homicide by a person or persons unknown, while acknowledging this may not satisfy the victim’s loved ones.
“This has been an extremely difficult process for Simone’s family,” she wrote.
“The trauma of losing a loved one in these circumstances and in a foreign country is unimaginable, and the family still do not have the answers that they are so desperately seeking.
“I express my heartfelt condolences and wish that the Strobel family will one day know the truth of what happened to Simone.”
Strobel’s then-boyfriend Tobias Moran, who now lives in Western Australia, was charged with murder in 2022.
But prosecutors opted not to proceed and the case was dropped, with $190,000 in compensation ordered to be paid.
O’Sullivan would not deliver an official finding that it was “very unlikely” Moran was involved in the death.
But on the “balance of probabilities” she believed it was unlikely Moran and his sister Katrin Suckfuell were involved and unlikely he could have acted alone in killing and disposing of Strobel.
The coroner recommended the case be referred to the NSW Homicide Squad’s unsolved homicide team and suggested they review male DNA recovered from Strobel’s black top and conduct further DNA analysis on other evidence.
Support is available by calling 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service on 1800 211 028.
