A German man who has been charged with the murder of British heiress Anna Reed, claims it was a "sex game gone wrong".
Marc Schätzle, 30, met Reed, 22, in Thailand while she was on an overseas adventure.
After a "whirlwind romance," the pair booked into Hotel la Palma au Lac in Locarno in the Swiss Alps.
Reed was later found dead in her hotel bathroom in April 2019.
A post-mortem investigation found that she died from strangulation and had also suffered small cuts and fractures.
A prosecution source told The Times Schätzle claims the woman died in an "erotic game that went wrong".
"The receptionist could tell by his tone that it was serious so called the ambulance," they added.
"They tried to resuscitate her but there was no response. She was already dead."
He denies claims he deliberately tried to kill Reed, but the Swiss police believe she was murdered for financial gain.
"We believe she was murdered for financial gain," 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."
