American man admits rape and murder of US tourist near German castle

The 31-year-old American man accused of murder stands in the dock behind his lawyers in a courtroom at the district court in Kempten, southern Germany (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP)

An American man on Monday admitted to charges of murder and rape after he allegedly pushed two US women down a ravine, fatally injuring one of them near Germany’s Neuschwanstein castle last year.

The 31-year-old defendant admitted the charges during the start of his trial, the German news agency dpa reported. Defendants in the German legal system do not formally enter pleas to charges.