The Murder of Daniela Kammerer
Nineteen-year-old student Daniela Kammerer was found murdered near Innsbruck's Rapoldipark in 2005. More than two decades later, Austrian prosecutors indicted a former fellow student after renewed DNA analysis. The indictment was allowed to proceed in August 2026, but no verdict had been reached as of this file's review.
Daniela Kammerer, a 19-year-old student from Lower Austria, was found dead near a telephone booth by Innsbruck's Rapoldipark on the morning of June 23, 2005. For years the homicide remained one of Tyrol's prominent cold cases. A former fellow student was investigated, detained and released in the 2010s before new forensic work eventually led prosecutors to file a murder indictment in 2026.
The night Daniela was killed
ORF Tirol's 2025 review states that Kammerer had attended a student gathering and later visited a friend. At around 4:30 a.m. she set out toward the Rapoldipark area. Approximately half an hour later, a passerby found her dead near a public telephone booth.
The murder weapon was not recovered. Early witness accounts, physical evidence and later DNA testing produced numerous investigative lines, but none resulted in a conviction during the first two decades after the crime.
The earlier investigation of a fellow student
A former fellow student came under strong suspicion years after the murder. ORF reported that he was arrested at Vienna airport in late 2013 after arriving from Australia and spent several weeks in pretrial detention.
The evidence at that stage included DNA traces attributed to him on or near items connected with Kammerer. The case against him was later discontinued because authorities concluded the evidence then available was insufficient to prove the murder. He returned to Australia.
That earlier release and discontinuance are important. They mean that suspicion in 2013–2014 cannot be retrospectively described as a conviction or proof of guilt.
The cold-case review
Austrian investigators continued to revisit the case. In June 2025, ORF reported that new and more sensitive DNA analyses were underway and that prosecutors emphasized the investigation had never been closed.
Technological advances ultimately produced a new result involving a cigarette recovered from the telephone-booth area. Prosecutors said that DNA attributed to the former fellow student was detected on its filter. They treated that finding, together with earlier evidence, as sufficient to reopen the prosecution.
The 2026 indictment
On May 5, 2026, the Innsbruck public prosecutor filed a murder indictment against the former fellow student, by then a 42-year-old Austrian resident of Australia. ORF reported that prosecutors accused him of killing Kammerer in the early hours of June 23, 2005.
The defense disputed the significance and reliability of the evidence and objected to the indictment. It also raised formal arguments connected with the earlier discontinued proceedings. Those objections are part of the defense position and must not be presented as judicial findings of innocence or guilt.
The Higher Regional Court clears the indictment
On August 7, 2026, the Innsbruck Higher Regional Court rejected the defense's objection and allowed the murder indictment to proceed. ORF reported that the court found the procedural requirements for a trial satisfied and referred to a probability of conviction.
That ruling did not convict the accused. It determined that the prosecution could proceed to trial. As of September 1, 2026, the reliable sources reviewed for this file did not report a trial verdict.
The DNA evidence in context
The prosecution relies in part on DNA findings, including the newly analyzed cigarette. Earlier reporting also described DNA linked to the accused on Kammerer's clothing, body or bicycle. The defense disputes the probative force of this material and has argued that some traces could have innocent explanations because the two knew each other.
Until a court hears and evaluates the evidence at trial, those competing interpretations remain prosecution and defense positions rather than a final adjudicated account.
Timeline
- Daniela Kammerer is found murdered
The 19-year-old student is found near a telephone booth by Innsbruck's Rapoldipark after leaving a social gathering and a friend's home.
- Former fellow student detained, then released
A man later charged in the case is held on suspicion but the proceedings are discontinued when the evidence is deemed insufficient at that time.
- Cold-case testing continues
ORF reports that investigators are using newer DNA-analysis methods and that the homicide investigation remains open.
- Murder indictment filed
Innsbruck prosecutors indict the former fellow student after renewed forensic analysis, including a DNA finding on a cigarette from the scene area.
- Objection rejected
The Innsbruck Higher Regional Court rejects the defense challenge to the indictment, clearing the way for a trial.
- No verdict reported
The case remains pending. The accused is presumed innocent unless and until guilt is established by a final judgment.
Current status
Unsolved / charged — trial pending. Austrian prosecutors have charged a former fellow student with Daniela Kammerer's murder, and the Higher Regional Court has allowed the indictment to proceed. No conviction or acquittal was reported in the reliable sources reviewed through September 1, 2026.
An indictment and a court's decision that a case may proceed to trial are not the same as a conviction. This file identifies the man only as the accused/former fellow student because the sources reviewed do not establish a final finding of guilt.
Sources and further reading
- ORF Tirol — 20-year cold-case review and renewed DNA analysis, June 20, 2025
- ORF Tirol — murder indictment after 21 years, May 5, 2026
- ORF Tirol — Higher Regional Court rejects objection and clears trial, August 7, 2026
- Kurier — indictment and new DNA evidence, May 5, 2026
Last reviewed: September 1, 2026