German traveller to go on trial charged with murdering British heiress

Face-tattooed insurance fraudster who ‘strangled British heiress to death in a Swiss hotel WILL go on trial for her murder despite his claim she died in a sex game

• Marc Schatzle has been ordered to stand trial charged with murder of Anna Reed
• Reed, 22, was found dead at the Hotel la Palma au Lac in Locarno, Switzerland
• It was found she died from strangulation and suffered small cuts and fractures
• Miss Reed, who moved to Berlin after finishing her A-Levels, is the granddaughter of Guy Reed, a prominent owner and breeder of racehorses 

A German traveller will go on trial charged with murdering a 22-year-old British heiress for her money despite his claim that she died in a sex game.

Marc Schatzle, 30, was this week ordered to stand trial charged with the murder of Anna Reed in April 2019, and on counts of fraud and theft.

Miss Reed, 22, was found dead at the Hotel la Palma au Lac in Locarno, Switzerland. A postmortem examination concluded she died from strangulation and had also suffered small cuts and fractures.

Five months later, a credit card belonging to the former private schoolgirl was discovered hidden in a panel of the hotel elevator.  Investigators suspected it was stolen by Mr Schatzle, who claimed he hid it there as a joke.

German Marc Schatzle, 30, who has tattoos across his body, including one over his left eyebrow which says ‘Warrior’, was ordered to stand trial charged with murdering 22-year-old Anna Reed in April 2019, and on counts of fraud and theft

A post-mortem examination was said to have confirmed Miss Reed died from suffocation or asphyxiation and had small fractures and cuts on her body (pictured left on Facebook with her boyfriend Marc Schatzle)

Ramada La Palma au Lac in Locarno, Switzerland, where Anna Florence Reed was found dead in April 2019. Five months later, a credit card belonging to the former private schoolgirl was discovered hidden in a panel of the hotel elevator. Investigators suspected it was stolen by Mr Schatzle, who claimed he hid it there as a joke

A prosecution source told The Times: ‘The bank card was very carefully hidden away and quite clearly it was to be collected later. The claim that she died in a sex game was never convincing.

‘We believe she was murdered for financial gain.’

They added that the German father-of-two claimed it was an ‘erotic game that went wrong’.

Mr Schatzle, who has denied deliberately killing Miss Reed, is alleged to have travelled the world using the proceeds from an insurance scam.

They are believed to have met in Thailand while travelling, and on the evening of her death had shared a £100 bottle of champagne over dinner before returning to their hotel. 

They were then pictured smiling on the terrace of their penthouse room just hours before her death.

Mr Schatzle, who has denied deliberately killing Miss Reed, is alleged to have travelled the world using the proceeds from an insurance scam (pictured together before her death)

Anna Florence Reed, 22, was discovered dead in the bathroom of the hotel where she was staying with her German boyfriend in the town of Lorcano, Switzerland

That night, guests at the Hotel la Palma au Lac complained of hearing an argument before Mr Schatzle came down to the lobby to say Miss Reed was unwell, it is claimed.

A hotel source told The Times: ‘The receptionist could tell by his tone that it was serious so called an ambulance.

‘The medics went straight up to the room. She was on the floor of the bathroom.

‘They tried to resuscitate her but there was no response. She was already dead.’ Mr Schätzle’s former partner has said she does not believe he is responsible, adding that ‘he is not a violent man’.

Miss Reed, who moved to Berlin after finishing her A-Levels, is the granddaughter of Guy Reed, a prominent owner and breeder of racehorses.

A spokesman for the Swiss prosecutors office said: ‘He is accused of intentional homicide, theft, fraud and drug offences. Covid permitting, he will go on trial later this year.’   

Speaking in 2019, Michèle Bochsler – the mother of Schätzle’s two children – defended him by saying while he had problems with drink, he was ‘not a murderer’. 

‘Marc is not a murderer. He is not a violent man. I’m shocked by what I have read about Marc. Yes Marc had problems with drink but he is not a violent man,’ she said. 

‘I am 1,000 per cent sure he did not mean to kill this young woman.’He never ever has been violent. Never ever. It’s just not possible. 

‘In German we have the expression ‘I would put my hand in the fire for that’. I use this expression because I am so sure that he is innocent. ‘It was an accident, it must have been.’

Ms Bochsler and Schätzle were together for eight years and they have two young children who he sees regularly.

Photos on Marc Schatzle’s Facebook showed him travelling around the world with his 22-year-old British girlfriend, Anna Reed, who he has been charged with murdering

Schätzle is understood to have hooked up with Miss Reed in 2018 after he left his partner and two young children.

He told friends he was returning to Switzerland after a round-the-world trip and hoped to see his children. 

Local press said other guests complained at 3am to the porter after hearing arguing coming from the couple’s room on the day she died. A porter was then sent to the Room 501 to calm the situation down.

Less than four hours later, Schätzle took the lift down to the lobby, appearing ‘agitated’ as he told staff his girlfriend was unwell.  

An ambulance was called but medics were unable to revive her and she was pronounced dead. 

The couple arrived at the Hotel La Palma au Lac in Locarno in early April 2019 and were due to stay for ‘several days’ in the premium top floor.  

The tattooed Schatzle wears a heavy leather jacker in this picture from social media, with ink covering his cheekbones and jawline. A spokesman for the Swiss prosecutors office said: ‘He is accused of intentional homicide, theft, fraud and drug offences. Covid permitting, he will go on trial later this year’

Locarno and Maggiore Lake in Ticino, Switzerland. The hotel where Miss Reed was found sits on the picturesque lake 

Schätzle worked as a bouncer in various pubs and nightclubs on the Swiss-German border. One source told a Swiss newspaper at the time: ‘Nobody knows how he could afford all the travel. Something can’t be right.’

An ex-girlfriend said of Schätzle: ‘He was on the wrong side of the tracks again and again. He lies to everyone. I always wondered how he could afford such a lifestyle without any regular income.’ 

On Facebook Anna – a former pupil at £14,000-a-year Ashville College in Harrogate – was often pictured embracing her heavily-tattooed partner in several photographs.

It is believed she may have been enjoying a round-the-world trip which she received from her father as a present for her 21st birthday, as her older sister Millie had received such a gift for her 21st three years ago.

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