<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A German backpacker who was found dead two decades ago was likely killed by someone driven by a sexual motive, a coroner has found.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Simone Strobel had been travelling with her boyfriend and two other companions in the NSW Northern Rivers region in 2005 before she went missing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Six days later, her naked body was found hidden under palm fronds at a Lismore sports ground.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/louisville-ups-plane-crash-update-death-toll-rises-to-nine/fde6a27a-6160-488f-9bf5-77fdb5d2418a" target="_blank"><strong><span>Death toll rises to at least nine in Kentucky cargo plane crash</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite an earlier inquest, the identification of several persons of interest and a million-dollar reward for information, much remains unknown about her death.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The findings of a second coronial inquest were delivered today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While it could not name a specific killer or cause of death, it did offer possible insights into her murderer's motivations.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/simone-strobel-german-backpackers-killer-driven-by-sexual-motive/4c8c66bd-79a2-4535-8655-86876a2e9a92" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is likely Simone's killer had a sexual motive," Magistrate Teresa O'Sullivan wrote in her findings.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I am unable to find ... that Simone was not sexually assaulted."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This has been an extremely difficult process for Simone's family," she wrote.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I express my heartfelt condolences and wish that the Strobel family will one day know the truth of what happened to Simone."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Strobel's then-boyfriend Tobias Moran, who now lives in Western Australia, was charged with murder in 2022.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But prosecutors opted not to proceed and the case was dropped, with $190,000 in compensation ordered to be paid.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>O'Sullivan would not deliver an official finding that it was "very unlikely" Moran was involved in the death.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>Support is available by calling 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service on 1800 211 028.</span></em></strong></div></div>