Accused backpacker murderer Tobias Friedrich Moran released on bail – Michmutters
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Accused backpacker murderer Tobias Friedrich Moran released on bail

Tobias Friedrich Moran, accused of murdering his former German backpacker girlfriend, will be released on bail as prosecutors decided not to proceed with a detention application.
The 42-year-old was freed by a magistrate today and can now return to Western Australia from where he was extradited.

Bail conditions stipulate he must report to police three days a week and must not communicate via any encrypted websites.

Tobias Moran, formerly known as Tobias Suckfuell, has been extradited from Perth to Sydney on Wednesday, July 27. He is an ex-boyfriend of a German backpacker Simone Strobel.
Tobias Moran, formerly known as Tobias Suckfuel, has been danced but will not be released today. (9News)

Magistrate Margaret Quinn in the Downing Center Local Court earlier on Thursday accepted submissions from Moran’s barrister there was no new evidence connecting him to the murder of Simone Strobel in 2005.

And while the Crown submitted new witness statements taken from people in Germany showed that he lied about the state of their relationship, that evidence was not currently before the court.

The magistrate said evidence showed the couple had been fighting, drinking a lot and perhaps on some drugs about the time of the alleged murder.

“(But) it doesn’t appear in this case to be any direct or indirect evidence connecting him to the offence,” Quinn said.

“It’s not the strongest circumstantial case I have seen.”

German backpacker Simone Strobel was found dead in Lismore in 2005.
German backpacker Simone Strobel was found dead in Lismore in 2005. (9News)

His wife has offered $200,000 in security if he fails to show up in Lismore court when required, while another $250,000 has been offered as an undertaking.

Moran is charged with murdering his then partner and acting with intent to pervert the course of justice between 11pm on February 11, 2005 and 3.30pm the following day.

Police allege Moran suffocated or smothered his girlfriend in a camper van in Lismore and disposed of her body nearby.

Moran reported the school teacher missing before she was found days later 100 meters from the camper van.

Her body was too decomposed for a coroner to determine the cause of death, but it is believed to be asphyxiation.

Tobias Moran, formerly known as Tobias Suckfuel, had been traveling around Australia with Simone Strobel in 2005
Tobias Moran, formerly known as Tobias Suckfuel, had been traveling around Australia with Simone Strobel in 2005. (Supplied)

The magistrate disagreed with the Crown’s submission that Moran had not co-operated with police, acknowledging he had refused to show up for an inquest in 2007.

But he had submitted plenty of DNA samples to police, one of which was lost, and most recently put himself forward for extradition, she said.

Police last week confirmed they were communicating with German authorities about two arrest warrants for suspects who had been “persons of interest from the very beginning”.

Moran’s sister Katrin Suckfuel and friend Jens Martin were also traveling with the pair.

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