U.S. victim in Germany attack was University of Illinois computer graduate

By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A U.S. hiker who was sexually assaulted and killed in Germany last week had just graduated from the University of Illinois with a computer science degree in May. The Rev. Mark Zhang of Living Water Evangelical Church in Naperville, Illinois, said Tuesday that 21-year-old Eva Liu’s parents confirmed to him that she was killed after a Michigan man attacked her and a 22-year-old friend while they were hiking near Neuschwanstein castle on June 14. According to authorities, the man allegedly threw Liu’s friend off a 165-foot cliff and sexually assaulted Liu before throwing her off the cliff as well. Liu died that night in a hospital; her friend survived. The man was quickly arrested.