Prosecutors accuse man of killing his wife in a brutal way

The teenage traveller Simone Strobel was allegedly strangled in their campervan, stripped naked, and dumped with the assistance of others by the German-born surfer who is accused of killing her.

Tobias Moran was charged this week with the murder of Ms. Strobel in northern NSW, which occurred some 17 years ago.

Despite the accusations, Tobias Moran’s attorney asserts that police have “no proof” against his client.

On Wednesday, Tim Game SC testified before Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court that the police case is a “poor theory” and that his client ought to be released on bail and sent back to Perth with a $450,000 bond from Samantha Moran’s affluent family.

However, the court was informed by the police that they believe Simone Strobel died “by asphyxia.”

The trial for Mr. Moran’s suspected 2005 murder of Simone Strobel, according to Mr. Game, is expected to take place in 2024 because to the complexity of the case and the presence of more than 300 witness testimony.

Mr. Moran appeared in court via video link from Parklea jail while donning a white surgical mask over his face and a blue forensic gown over his prison garb.

Mr. Moran addressed Magistrate Margaret Quinn by name, “Tobias Moran,” in English and without a foreign accent while sitting with his hands clasped in front of him and gazing at the screen.

In order to wait for the trial, he requested permission to travel back to Perth, where he would reside with his affluent wife in a beautiful beach cottage as she gets ready to give birth to their third kid.

Mr. Game argued against a letter that the court had received from the chief investigating officer, Detective Sergeant David David Mackie.

He insisted time and time again that there was “no proof” to support the accusations made against Mr. Moran, who is accused of killing Ms. Strobel in the campervan they were travelling in after a night out at Lismore’s Gollan Hotel in February 2005.

The attorney said his client had provided DNA and had been left out of 53 samples mentioned in the police case, calling the police statement of facts in the case “an overstatement and exaggeration.”

Police near the homicide scene had also discovered the DNA of a “unknown male” on a “black item.”

The police case had evidence that suggested Ms. Strobel’s neck may have had visible marks, but Mr. Game argued that it was unclear what exactly caused her death.

He informed the court that there was “no evidence to support the notion that the cause of death is suffocation.”

There were a few marks, but there was no proof that those were the cause of death.

That is not a reliable cause of death,

He claimed that police had “hitched up” the case against Mr. Moran in advance of a later-this-year inquest into the death of Ms. Strobel.

The defence attorney added that Mr. Moran, his wife, and their two children were prepared to turn over their passports to law enforcement, that his client “had cooperated” with them, and that they were all living “in plain sight” in Perth.

‘He has been charged… then suddenly gets arrested one morning in Perth early last week without any explanation or any attempt to explain why,’ Mr. Game said.

Police expressed concern that the accused might flee to another country with his family; Mr. Game called this concern “outrageous.”

The court was informed that Mrs. Moran would post $200,000 as collateral for her husband’s release and that her parents, John and Sandy Moran, would be willing to forego another $250,000 in bail.

The night Simone Strobel vanished, “while she was still in the campsite,” screams were heard coming from the Lismore caravan park, according to prosecutor Kim Gourlie for the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions.

He said that her body had “bruising,” and that “one or more persons” were responsible for her death.

He stated that testimony from German witnesses regarding the “nature of the relationship” between Ms. Strobel and Mr. Moran in 2005 would be included in the police case.

In relation to Ms. Strobel, he claimed that Tobias Moran had told police lies, including “lies about the nature of their connection, lies about the usage of alcohol, and lies about the attire she was wearing.”

He left the area when he was a significant suspect close to the time of her death, according to Mr. Gourlie.

He also claimed that the suspect had been “compelled” to provide DNA samples to authorities.

“At critical times when Simone was slain, he doesn’t cooperate,” he said.

“He returned because he wed an Australian,” said the source. Before coming back, he had a name change.

For the accused murder of Simone Strobel, 25, who was discovered naked and thrown through a fence behind palm fronds at a Lismore sports court in February 2005, six days after he reported her missing, Tobias Moran is currently in custody.

Tobias Suckfuell, as he was then named, criticised the local police as “kindergarten cops” for taking so long to find Ms. Strobel, but he then declined to travel back to Australia in 2007 for the inquiry into the death of the murdered kindergarten teacher.

At his family’s home in southern Germany, Mr. Suckfuell met and wed his yoga instructor wife in 2012.

He then changed his last name to Moran and moved to the affluent Perth neighbourhood of City Beach, where the pair now resides with their two children.

On Tuesday of last week, Mr. Moran was detained by WA Police at the couple’s lavish Perth home.

He was then transferred to Sydney, where he was formally charged with Ms. Strobel’s murder by two NSW investigators.

On Wednesday night, Mr. Moran was flown to Sydney and booked at Mascot Police Station.

He has spent the previous week behind bars.

Additionally, he was accused of tampering with the course of justice.

Before the most recent accusations, Mr. Moran has always denied having any part in Ms. Strobel’s demise.

Following an alcohol-fueled drinking session involving the four German tourists in a nearby Lismore hotel, Ms. Strobel’s body was discovered six days after she went missing.

90 metres from the campsite where she and Mr. Moran had been camped with his sister Kathrin and her companion Jens Martin, her decaying body was discovered shoved over a fence and covered in palm leaves.

There are “reasonable suspicions” that Mr. Moran killed Ms. Strobel at the Lismore RV park in 2005, a Supreme Court judge found in a civil action.

After the alleged murder, Mr. Moran left Australia and lived a carefree nomadic existence surfing the best beaches in the world before meeting Samantha in South Africa.

In order to attend the subsequent inquiry into Ms. Strobel’s death, neither Mr. Moran nor his sister Kathrin travelled back to Australia.

However, Jens Martin did appear in court and stated that all three had lied to authorities about their activities prior to Ms Strobel’s disappearance at Mr Moran’s request.

Gustl and Gabi Strobel, the bereaved parents of Ms. Strobel, have talked to German media outlets throughout the years, claiming that after the murder of their darling daughter, they have had “agonising uncertainty.”

Virginia Peters wrote a book titled Have You Seen Simone? about Ms. Strobel’s enigmatic passing.

In order to stop its publication, Mr. Moran obtained an injunction in 2014. He subsequently sued Ms. Peters and Schwarz Publishing for defamation, but he withdrew his case in 2017.

However, the defence requested the release of documents known as “the 100-page Document” during the discovery phase of the defamation lawsuit.

In 2017, Mr. Moran filed a request to ban these records on the grounds that they were protected by legal professional privilege and contained notes that he and Samantha purportedly wrote about the events surrounding Ms. Strobel’s death in South Africa.

The inquest was informed by NSW Police that they thought Ms. Strobel had been smothered, probably with a pillow.

The NSW government announced a $1 million reward in 2020 for information on the murder.

At 12 p.m. on Thursday, Magistrate Quinn will decide whether or not to grant Tobias Moran bail.

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